The work of Noreen Kruzich

Noreen Kruzich is a freelance researcher, with exclusive focus on First Nation & Metis Ancestry/Genealogy and Heritage/Social History. She also conducts research for documentaries and museum exhibits. Her book The Ancestors are Arranging Things…a journey on the Algonkin Trail brought light to Algonkin First Nation’s 200-year old struggle for recognition of their ancestral territory and their overall inherent rights. Her column, Our Home on Native Land, in the Madawaska Highlander has featured people, places and things First Nation or Metis across the Ottawa Valley. Noreen brought her historical research skills to the documentaries, Trick or Treaty directed by the well-known and accomplished Alanis Obomsawin and to Colonization Road directed by award winning actress Michelle St. John. Both roles won the films historical research awards.

Noreen is a former investigative reporter for CBS, ABC and NPR affiliates and former Communications Officer for the Red Cross. She is a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and student with the Institute of Genealogical Studies a researcher listed with Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.

Noreen has spent time learning the Algonquin language, and enjoys First Nation celebrations, events, teachings and workshops. Her maternal heritage goes back to the Governor of the Plimoth Colony and to Jamestown, Virginia and Pocahontas, and the Mohawk and Montauk of New York and Connecticut.  Her paternal roots lead to Croatia—a country and peoples who have struggled long for liberation.