"Beginning with Elsie Knott, the first female chief in Canada, Cora Voyageur presents the lives of sixty-four of the ninety women chiefs who have assumed the traditionally male role of elected First Nations leadership. Using a range of qualitative research strategies, surveys, participant observation, interviews, and discussions with focus groups, Voyageur presents the colonial histories behind the issues that contemporary Aboriginal communities struggle with and delineates the resulting leadership dilemmas for chiefs, while also articulating a story that is unique to First Nations women.

Voyageur asks women chiefs about what inspired them to become leaders, how they've maintained their priorities, and the personal and professional costs and rewards involved in their positions. Firekeepers of the Twenty-First Century is a groundbreaking work that examines the experiences of women as they negotiate multiple roles and navigate the worlds of gender, race, and reserve politics."