Mrs. Santanna Hernandez is Dene, from the Liidlii Kue Nation and Cold Lake First Nation on her father’s side and Dutch on her maternal side. She was raised on the traditional territory of the Sto:lo Nation and spent many years as a guest on the unceded territory of the Sinixt (Lakes), Syilx (Okanagan), Ktunaxa and Secwepemc (Shuswap) nations, whom she honours for the many traditions and gifts they shared with her. Mrs. Hernandez is a mother of four children and working on her own healing journey from post-generational trauma and ongoing systemic racism.
She is a military medical student at the University of Calgary. She served as the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students and will continue to support the federation in the position of past president. She serves as co-chair on the ii'taa'poh'to'p student advisory circle and is continually working on research and initiatives to support Indigenous students at the university.
Mrs. Hernandez uses her leadership and governance experience to walk a parallel path with allies. Before attending medical school, she completed a bachelor of Indigenous social work degree at the University of Victoria with a focus on Indigenous health and health policy.