Noreen Kruzich is a freelance researcher, with exclusive focus on First Nation & Metis Ancestry/Genealogy
and Heritage/History. She also conducts
research for documentaries and museum exhibits, has worked with organizations such as the Metis Nation
of Ontario. Her book The Ancestors are Arranging Things…a journey on the Algonkin
Trail (Borealis Press/Ottawa/2011) brought light to the Algonkin First Nation’s 200-year old struggle for recognition
of their ancestral territory and their overall inherent rights. Her former column, Our Home on Native Land, in the
Madawaska Highlander (2018-2020) 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, as well a researcher
listed with Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.
Noreen has spent time learning the Algonquin language (Anishnabemowin), and
enjoys First Nation celebrations, events, teachings and workshops. Her maternal lineage goes back to Governor William Bradford of the Plimoth Colony (Mayflower) and to Jamestown, Virginia and Pocahontas, among a variety of heritages too many to list --Scot, British, Dutch, Mohawk, Montauk and more. Her paternal roots lead to Croatia—a country
and peoples who have struggled long for liberation.
Noreen was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and received a Bachelors Degree at Central Michigan University in Broadcast Journalism. She currently lives along the Goulais River, north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario after 24 years of residing in the Ottawa Valley of Ontario.