Money as Nutrients

As a Métis woman, my relationship to money is layered and complex. Rooted in capitalism and entangled with colonialism, money has long been implicated in the ongoing harm to Indigenous peoples and lands. Yet, I am beginning to explore a different lens, one that invites us to see money not only as extractive and necessary but also as generative. I am learning to view money through the intricate and interconnected roots and brave buds of the trees, tracing a path that reconnects prosperity with reciprocity and relational abundance. 

My dad is Smokey Fraser, and Ned Fraser is my grandfather. My grandfather was born in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta and raised there in the Métis way: hunting, trapping, fishing, and berry picking. My Métis ancestors were pioneers of the fur trade. Many of the matriarchs in my Métis family line are Cree-speaking. I was born in Hay River, Northwest Territories, and my father was buried there when I was three years old. I am Red River Métis and a Fort Chip Fraser as well as a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation and the Métis Nation of British Columbia. 

Witnessing the Trees From the Sky, Just as a Bird Does

It feels especially fitting that I am writing this reflection while nestled in the wilderness, surrounded by towering trees. They stand tall, swaying gently as they breathe, their multicoloured leaves rustling in rhythm with the wind. Just beyond, the water softly laps against the shore, accompanied by a symphony of winged ones: hummingbirds, eagles, ravens, loons, woodpeckers, thrushes, chickadees, and seagulls.

This place brings me back to the moment my journey as a winged one began. My first time in a small airplane changed everything. It was the awe of witnessing the trees from the sky, just as a bird does. That view shifted something in me. It offered a new way of seeing, of understanding scale, perspective, and connection to land. It was from the sky that day that I fell in love with flight. One year later, I became a commercial pilot and in 2018, I launched a humble airline: Iskwew Air.

Launching Iskwew Air deepened my understanding of what it means to try and sustain something rooted in Indigenous values and community while running a business in systems not designed for me. I first began to frame money as nutrients, not as a new idea, but one as old as the trees, alongside my friend BE Alink, Founder of the Alinker. Sitting by the fire beneath the mighty maple, we spoke about Indigenous businesses and the ongoing challenges my own company was facing. It became unmistakably clear: we didn’t need more programs or more mentorship, we needed money. We needed, and still need, more nutrients to move from surviving to thriving.

What Gets the Nutrients Thrives, and What Doesn’t Dies

Whether we’re talking about government allocations, venture funding, investments, grants, loans, procurement, partnerships, or where we direct our personal spending, I invite us all to think of money as nutrients. Framing money as nutrients asks us to see resources differently, not just as currency, but as life-giving forces. 

To ground this idea, first picture these nutrients clearly. Imagine the ecosystems of lakes and rivers. Imagine your garden, perhaps a flower bed or a patch of wild roses. Imagine sweetgrass, flowing and free. Imagine a forest in nature. Imagine the trees. They need seeds. They need rich, fertile soil. They need minerals. They need sunshine. They need water. They need air. They need all these nutrients to thrive. Cedar trees. Birch trees. Willow trees. Maple trees. Imagine those with abundant nutrients: the more nutrients they get, the more they grow. Their roots deepen and strengthen, their branches sprawl out, and their leaves rustle with sacred communication. 

Once you are embodied in nature, witnessing the nutrients flowing all around you, deepen this idea I am offering: that just like in nature, what gets the nutrients thrives and what doesn’t dies. This forest is living and life-giving, unwavering and flexible, wise and vibrant. Trees are naturally rooted in resilience. But what if those trees are starving for nutrients? What if those trees aren’t getting any water? Any sunshine? What if they are forced into inhospitable places? They can’t grow. They can’t flourish. They become vulnerable. They die.

Now that we can see, hear, and feel the forest, we can deepen the conversation about where nutrients are going and where they are most needed.

Dream Into the Future Economy. Our Collective Future Depends on It

Indigenous peoples have been leaders, knowledge keepers, strategists, healers, sophisticated entrepreneurs, and dreamers since time immemorial. By including and amplifying these important and powerful voices of Indigenous peoples, we can see a whole new world: a future of innovation, strength, economic prosperity, and where the land is loved and honoured. It takes my breath away to see the resilience of Indigenous founders thriving in spite of, or perhaps because of, their adversity, connecting to intergenerational knowing, creatively responding to their harsh environments, to survive, sustain, and grow. 

Nutrients need to flow to Indigenous entrepreneurs. If only 2% of nutrients go to woman-owned businesses, just imagine how little is going to women in historically, colonially, and intentionally excluded groups. Imagine how little reaches Indigenous women. Colonization, the Indian Act, and Indian Residential Schools have all worked systematically to strip Indigenous peoples of the nutrients needed to thrive, for generations and generations and generations. We must be relentless in the disruption of systems that continue to oppress Indigenous peoples. 

Entrepreneurship is how I lifted myself out of poverty and generated enough nutrients to create a different future for my children and grandchildren. For the last two decades, I have been dreaming into safety, self-determination, stewardship, and sovereignty through my entrepreneurial journey in aviation. On the hard days, I simply remind myself of the awe and wonder of seeing a tree’s shadow from the sky. 

Canada’s air transportation system is like tree roots—critical infrastructure and vital for the health of our country. It is connecting people to their communities, transporting essential food, medication and goods, bringing people to the care they need and connecting us to land, to exploration, to family, to home. We have a precious opportunity right now to reimagine, rematriate, and rebuild an industry centering sustainability. 

When we view money through the roots and buds of the trees, tracing a path that reconnects prosperity with reciprocity and relational abundance, we can dream into the future economy. Our collective future depends on it.

Where are the Nutrients Going?  

Who is flowing the nutrients? Who is deciding where the nutrients will flow? Who is receiving the nutrients? Where do the nutrients need to go? 

Dream into the future. Pay attention. Follow the nutrients. Flow nutrients with intention.

Where are the nutrients going?  

Because that is what will thrive. 

It is just that simple.  

-Teara Fraser