Biography

Rachel is from Utqiagvik (Alaska) and is a social justice film and digital media writer/director/producer.  She has directed/produced 8 documentaries, 2 short dramas and 13 episodes for Television. She is Peabody nominated filmmaker and a 2009 alumni of the Sundance Institute Ford Fellowship for her Iñupiaq Fantasy Trilogy and short film.  Her History of the Iñupiaq documentary series was the first known all native produced and directed historical documentary series in the United States.  She also works in education and is a cultural safety consultant in Australia and the USA, leading holistic culturally safe and responsive practice in film, the arts, media, education, government, health and corporate sectors. Rachel is a founding member of the Unquiet Collective. She is a Iñupiat/Norwegian/Sami woman. Rachel is married to former land rights lawyer and social justice advocate and educational leader David Selvarajah Vadiveloo; together they have three children.  She is the oldest daughter of author, leader and educator, Debby Edwardson and tribal leader and geologist George Saġġana Edwardson.