Ashley Smoke (Spirit Name: Gatherer of Medicines for the People) is an Anishinaabe, 2-Spirit parent of a neurodivergent toddler, from Alderville First Nations. Ashley has lived/living expertise with drug use, criminalization, child apprehension systems, and domestic (and other forms of) violence. Ashley has worked in Harm Reduction for 8+ years and enjoys advocating for PWUD as well as mobilizing communities to take action and has co-founded the Ontario Network of People Who Use Drugs (ONPUD) and Tweak Easy Cobourg. They have also founded the Northumberland (and area) Drug Users (NDU) after seeing the absence of engagement where they live. Ashley loves to learn and reads research and text books for fun. They also harvest medicines like Sweetgrass, Sage, Cedar, porcupine quills, etc., and enjoys beading, quillwork, and painting. Ashley is very intuitive and has a special connection to spirit – and not just their Puppy named Spirit!
