Joseph Pitawanakwat

Growing up between Windsor and Sturgeon Falls, Matthew Levac is NOT Indigenous but has always had a deep sense of love and appreciation for the diversity across Ontario. Matt’s experience with this landscape has spanned work as a turtle researcher in the forests of northern Ontario, a bat mortality researcher in wind farms, and providing land-based education for youth and adults alike. Matt furthered his career in ecological restoration at Fleming College, graduating as an Ecosystem Management Technician in 2018. It was here he met Beedahbin Peltier and Joseph Pitawanakwat. Recognizing Matt’s lifetime passion of land and community-based practices to help the earth around us, Joseph encouraged him on the road to Anishinaabek land restoration practices. For the past 8 years, Matt has committed himself to the hard work of establishing and maintaining reciprocal relationships with plant medicines, the beneficiaries of which are Indigenous communities across Ontario. Matt continues this work today, along with teaching communities the process of harvesting and caring for key medicinal species.