Alumni Profiles
Through the Lens: How CMU Helped an Indigenous Storyteller Find Her Voice
25 at 25 | Gindalee Ouskun (CMU '17)
Gindalee Ouskun (CMU ’17) graduated with a major in Communications and Media. Now Marketing Coordinator at APTN and a professional photographer, she credits CMU with helping her find confidence, creativity, and her voice as an Indigenous storyteller.
Gindalee Ouskun points to the great paradox in her life—she is shy and introverted, yet her work is public-facing and relational. "It's kind of ironic that I would choose a career where... I'm always interacting with people and really putting myself out there," she laughs. "But being in the role brings out a sort of confidence that I don't necessarily always have."
Ouskun works at APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), a Canadian broadcaster and media network sharing news and storytelling by and about Indigenous peoples. She is currently on maternity leave with her second child, but normally she is the marketing coordinator, meaning she manages the social media, coordinates marketing, and manages a small team of staff. She also runs her own photography business, capturing weddings, events, lifestyle shoots, and more. Her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, including on the cover of their In Style section.
After attending a huge high school, she came to CMU searching for a more personal learning experience. "I wanted to be in a smaller space so I actually could have my voice heard in a classroom. I never really got that in high school," she says. It was intimidating at first, to be known and therefore unable to fade into the background, but she says "[CMU] was very welcoming."
Ouskun's creativity bloomed at CMU. She intended to major in history and minor in English, but taking Introduction to Communications and Media by chance revealed a creative bug she didn't know was inside her. She graduated in 2017 with a Communications and Media major.
Throughout her degree, she gained confidence from the supportive community of students and faculty around her. "I was obviously really scared to talk in class—especially presentations, I dreaded those. But... people were genuinely wanting to hear what you have to say." Associate Professor of Communications and Media David Balzer was an especially important figure in her experience, giving her "the confidence to keep pushing and growing as a person in comms."
"I think CMU prepared me just to be comfortable in my own skin," she says. "I've never felt like I had to be someone else when I was here."
One of her biggest projects to date is doing all the photography for the book, 111 Places in Winnipeg That You Must Not Miss. Published in 2024 as part of a well-known series of travel guides, it highlights lesser-known landmarks and hidden gems. "I get a call from this publisher in New York, and I genuinely thought it was spam." She couldn't believe the editor wanted her, but the job was real and it became an eight-month project that led her to new places and people all over the city.
Ouskun is passionate about working with Indigenous organizations, something she's done more of in the last few years. She had a profound experience shooting an event honouring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. "It was really difficult to listen to some of the stories, but I think being there was really important and not to pretend the stories don't exist. It's like a community when you come to these events, and just being there, being supportive, and making it aware that these things happen... As an Indigenous woman, they're really important to me. Especially now that I have a daughter, it's even more heightened... It hits home."
Since then, she's photographed round dances for Ribbon Skirt Day, teaching events led by Indigenous educators, and she recently started a collaboration with the Indigenous Chamber of Commerce. "It's very important to me to be able to offer the service of providing images that they may not be able to get otherwise."
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