Michelle Chubb happily posed for photographs following her speech on her experiences with social media, self-image, and mental health in Humber North’s Student Centre on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Chubb, known as ‘Indigenous Baddie’ to her nearly 900,000 TikTok and Instagram followers, never would have imagined herself as a voice for her community.
Michelle Chubb (Indigenous Baddie) answering questions at Humber College North campus. Photo credit: Liv Chug
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Chubb was ‘othered’ since birth because of her cleft palate. It made her both look and feel different in her non-Indigenous community.
“I grew up with non-native people, and I always felt like an outsider,” Chubb said. “I would go home and ask my mom why I look different. It took a big toll on me.”
She spent the school year trying to blend in with her classmates and her summers on the Bunibonibee Cree Nation Reserve, home to the Swampy Cree tribe, about 950 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
Chubb loved spending the summer with family and immersing herself in her culture, yet she still felt like an outsider among those on the reserve.
“Every time I would go to the reserve they would call me city girl,” she said. “I was in the middle of both communities and wasn’t able to fit in.”
This feeling she didn’t belong always followed Chubb. She decided to create a place for herself.
Chubb knew she needed change after graduating high school and grew herself into a social media advocate for the Indigenous community.
She used her platform to address Indigenous issues like the need for clean water and missing and murdered women, which were often a target of negative comments.
“There are people constantly fighting in my comments,” she said. “It’s a lot of people telling us to go back to our reserves and deal with it and ourselves.”
Chubb’s partner reminds her people comment negatively to feel better about themselves, much like what her mother used to tell her to combat bullies at school.
Chubb continues to grow her platform by being a voice for her community and a role model to her daughter.
“When she gets older I want her to love herself the way she is. I don’t want to her struggle the way that I did,” Chubb said.
Since her first day on social media, Chubb has succeeded in creating a safe space. “We all have a voice,” she said. “We should be able to use it.”
From the shy girl at the back of the class to an Indigenous advocate in magazines, Chubb is proof that anyone can be whoever they want to be.