Jessica Matten born November 3, 1985 in Edmonton, Alberta, is a Canadian actor and activist.^[1]

Career

In 2022, Matten co-starred in Robert Redford, George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones) and Graham Roland's produced "Dark Winds" television series opposite Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon for the AMC Network.

In 2020, Matten began starring in Tribal on the APTN Network. She plays the newly appointed chief of an indigenous police force in Alberta, Canada. Also in 2020, Matten appeared in the horror movie The Empty Man for Disney/20th Century Fox studios.

In 2018, Matten appeared in Season 3 of Discovery Canada and Netflix's TV show Frontier starring Jason Momoa. Also in 2018, she began appearing in the CW Network and CBC drama Burden of Truth.

Matten is the President of 7 Forward Entertainment, an Indigenous-owned production company based out on the West Coast of Canada. She is also a Co-Founder of The Counting Coup Indigenous Film Academy (“CCIFA”), an educational environment for creative work, where emerging and aspiring First Nations, Metis and Inuit artists can gain expertise and experience in film.

Personal life

She is the daughter of the "Canadian Pocahontas" a Ukrainian mixed Métis/Saulteaux-Cree model named Theresa Ducharme ^[2] and a mixed British Chinese father. Since the age of 6, she assisted with her mothers First Nations modeling agency around Canada. She worked for her father in marketing for several years before becoming an actor.^{[3] [4]}

Matten also was the creator and founder of the first and only Indigenous Cree Wellness and Fitness magazine "Active Cree" distributed monthly to 60,000 people and 10 communities across the James Bay area throughout Northern Ontario. She is a guest speaker across North America, Asia and Europe promoting and spreading awareness on Indigenous issues. She has discussed wanting to help create a positive impression of and for the First Nation people as well as using her position to highlight issues they face and advocating for opportunities within First Nation communities. Matten started the N8V Girls social media campaign and website to raise awareness of the murdered and missing indigenous peoples in Canada.^[5][6]

Matten graduated from the University of Alberta with a science degree in Human Ecology. Besides acting, Matten runs an Indigenous wellness and fitness company 7 Forward Entertainment (formally in partnership with Lemon Cree) where they have helped thousands of Indigenous people across North America achieve their fitness, wellness and health goals. For over 20 years she has worked with the Indigenous Youth and is an activist to help spread awareness globally on the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women in North America.​ Matten ran multiple monthly articles and the magazine “Active Cree” - the first Native fitness and health magazine which was distributed monthly to 60,000 people across Northern Quebec to the James Bay Cree Nation. She runs acting and fashion workshops on the First Nation community.^[7][8]

References