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.


  

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