(Nooksack | Shxwha:y | Kanaka) | Coast Salish Territory

Noelani is a member of Shx̌whá:y Village, with Nooksack and Hawaiian heritage. A wife and mother of two young boys, she and her husband are raising their family in their homelands along the Nooksack River. She earned her BA from the University of Washington and, guided by a deep love of storytelling, went on to receive her MFA in Creative Writing with a screenwriting focus from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Noelani currently writes and produces for Children of the Setting Sun Productions. Her work is rooted in an authentic Indigenous worldview, with a particular focus on the peoples of the Salish Sea. She is driven by a commitment to creating hopeful, transformative representations of Native life, especially for youth, offering characters and stories that reflect strength, possibility, and self-recognition.