Katłįà is a Yellowknives Dene First Nation woman from Sǫ̀mbak’è, Dënéndeh (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories). She splits her time between her home territory and the ancestral, unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples, as well as the neighboring W̱SÁNEĆ nations.K’o

Katłįà holds a law degree in Indigenous Legal Orders through the University of Victoria and is an award-winning author. Her books include Northern Wildflower; Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat’a; This House is Not a Home; and Firekeeper. Her latest work, to be released in April 2026, is entitled Mother Earth Is Our Elder, a northern Indigenous reflection on the climate crisis, published with Penguin Random House and HarperOne, and named to Indigo’s 2026 bestseller list.

In addition to her writing, Katłįà is the Manager of the Revitalizing Land, Air and Water (RELAW) Co-Learning Program at West Coast Environmental Law, where she guides Indigenous nations in applying their own ancestral laws to contemporary environmental governance through community-led processes.

In her work, Katłįà aims to honor her role as an Indigenous storyteller by creating visually compelling narratives that reflect her cultural background, upbringing, and connection to community—crafting impactful stories through a lens rooted in Indigenous value systems and laws.

Aside from her work, Katłįà is a mother, grandmother, and daughter of the Dene.