Shawkay Ottmann is Anishinaabe and a member of Fishing Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan, as well as having British, German, Polish, and Norwegian heritage. Currently, she is working at the Remai Modern Museum as a Program Guide (Indigenous Arts & Programs). In 2021, Shawkay received an MA from the Royal College of Art in the V&A/RCA History of Design Programme. She also taught the inaugural Indigenous Fashion course at her alma mater, Toronto Metropolitan University, where she graduated with a Major in History and a Minor in Fashion Design in 2019. In the past, Shawkay has worked as a research assistant, aiding a professor research articles on Indigenous methodologies and Indigenizing the academy, along with researching Indigenous participation in the First and Second World War for the Juno Beach Centre. In her own name, Shawkay has been published writing about clothing in Canadian Indian Residential Schools for Fashion Studies, Indigenous participation in D-Day for Active History, as a travel writer for Gapyear.com, and for a short story in the Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues. In 2022, Shawkay will be starting a PhD in Apparel Design at Cornell University.