Kay Kakendasot Mattena is a citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation with matriarchal ancestors among the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi and serves the Association on American Indian Affairs as its Auction Monitor. The Association is the longest serving national Native nonprofit, since 1922. Kay received her master's in archaeology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 2021. She is pursuing her doctorate in archaeology, braiding Indigenous community-based research methodologies and conducting archaeological research in collaboration with the Potawatomi Nation Tattoo Society, aiding in the reawakening of traditional Potawatomi body modifications. Alongside her work with the Association, she is a Research Assistant with the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science and a Language Apprentice with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Language Department.