Jonel Beauvais is a Wolf Clan, Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk). Who is the proud mother of three children and chosen auntie, sister and friend to many. She works diligently to empower and induce healing within all Native/Indigenous communities in order to prosper in the Haudenosaunee teachings of good medicine and good minds.
Her inspiration for community engagement was founded in supporting the families of Ohero:kon. She has dedicated seven years as a council member and Lead Auntie for all adolescent girls entering their first year of fasting in Ohero:kon “Under the Husk”, which is the Rights of Passage for youth in Akwesasne. Through ceremony these youth commit to four years of fasting in which they attend weekly gatherings throughout the winter months where traditional/modern teachings are presented to the young fasters and their families. All with the intentions of receiving a vision, insight or guidance on the purpose of their journey into adulthood.
Ms. Beauvais is also the Co-Creator of the Welcome Home Circle in Akwesasne, which is inspired by her own carceral experience and the undeniable need for representation and support for those directly and in-directly impacted by the criminal system, especially in Native communities. She is actively working on their “Tiny Home Project”, which will give those transitioning back into community peer support and safe housing to ensure those coming home get the opportunity to demonstrate transformational justice. She has provided consultation for the Tribal Youth Resource Center, along with local schools and Higher Education Institutions. She was chosen to be one of the first three fellows to the represent the Haudenosaunee Fellowship at Cornell University and is actively advocating for Native Youth in these spaces of academia.
On July 29th, She travelled to Quebec City with a delegation of Haudenosaunee Leadership, where she addressed Pope Francis in the atrocities the Church has played in the genocide against Indigenous peoples across North America, through the Cradle Board Mandate.
In 2022 she received an award from the Women’s Institute for Leadership and Learning for her dedication to raising the voice of women and helping them attain pride and power through personal accountability.
Spring of 2015, she began cultivating support and experience around intimate and systemic violence with the Seven Dancers Coalition, as Community Outreach, located in Upstate New York on the U.S./CAN boarder in Akwesasne. The Coalition’s mission is to educate Tribal communities and service providers through trainings and presentations on Sexual Assault, Domestic violence, Campus Safety, Teen Dating, Sex Trafficking and Stalking. She was a recipient of 2020 Visionary Voice Award, nominated by the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault, granted by the National Sexual Assault Resource Center.
She’s a member of the Section 84 parole board of Akwesasne and the Neh Kanikonriio Council which is a restorative Justice initiative that integrates indigenous ways of mediation to reduce incarceration and remedy a more interpersonal means of healing.
