Darrel J. McLeod (1)_Portrait_courtesy Ilja HerbDARREL J. MCLEOD is Cree from treaty eight territory in Northern Alberta. Before pursuing writing in his retirement he was a chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government and executive director of education and international affairs with the assembly of First Nations. He holds degrees in French Literature and Education from UBC. Darrel is working on a second memoir following the events in Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age. In the spring of 2018, he was accepted into the Banff Writing Studio to focus on his first work of fiction. Darrel lives, writes, sings and plays jazz guitar in Sooke B.C.