For the Love of Good Coffee and Kistapinânihk
Kiyâm Coffee was made for the pure love of that roasty, toasty, morning wakeup call, and out of a love for Prince Albert, the Great Meeting Place.
The Wheels
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Coffee
On
Wheels
Where on earth did this come from?
Coffee
On
Wheels
THE BEGINNING
I first discovered fancy things in my early 20s.
My best friend got me a job at the finest cheese shop in Calgary, which was conveniently next to a cafe. After a week of learning all about different styles of fromage from all over the world I never knew existed, someone brought me a single macchiato in a tiny 5 oz. cup. I saw it and peered at it with the reverence and curiosity of an alien that had recently landed on earth. What on earth is this and why is it so good?
The short and the long of it is (espresso joke), I love coffee and I have missed coffee: the music that goes with coffee, the chatting that goes with coffee, the morning sunshine that goes with coffee, the laughter that is bound to go with coffee. It's something a bit excessive, a bit extra nice, a touch in your day that tips it toward lovely. Grab a sketchbook, throw on your favourite record, and just enjoy.
THE CART
What's better yet - and even ironic for such a fancy process - is that Kiyâm Coffee is a mobile coffee cart. It allows me to cart this coffee around like my ancestors before me on their red river carts and ox carts and dogsleds and on horseback. My grandma's family ran a fur trading post when she was a little girl in Tweedsmuir. Her great-grandparents were Margaret Bear and James Isbister, Cree-Métis couple that were the first to build a permanent house in Kistapinânihk in 1862. Like them, farming and trading here over 160 years ago, my heart is still here and my hope is to contribute to this region and its people like they did.
THE NAME
Many families (like mine) in 1860s Kistapinânihk were the result of intermarriage between Cree and Orcadian-Scottish traders. Records show that they definitely spoke Cree, but I often wonder if my ancestors also spoke the now-extinct dialect of Michif called Bungee here, which was a mix of Orcadian-Scottish English-Cree with a Gaelic lilt to it. One word which overlaps with the Cree language, Nehiýawewin, was also used in Bungee is "Keeyam" (Kiyâm). It means it's okay, don't worry about it, let it be. Maybe they said Kiyâm to each other like I am saying it now. For me, Kiyâm settles my heart to trust in God when everything around me is telling me to be anxious.
All of this to say - this coffee is about a lot of things to me... creating positive community, building entrepreneurial opportunities for our young people, celebrating and revitalizing Indigenous languages, supporting local and sustainable products/projects, and giving back to the people of our region.
Kiyâm and sit down, here's a coffee, let's have a visit!
Mwestas!
Founder
Lindsay Sorell founded this shindig in 2026 with significant help from the Clarence Campeau Fund, the Gabriel Dumont Institute, Prince Albert Community Futures, and with special support from her whole family.
Lindsay received a BFA in Drawing with Distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design, and an MA in Modern Languages and Cultural Studies (Media & Culture) from the University of Alberta. Her first job was at McDonald's, she is a Cheesemonger, was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Luma Quarterly Film + Media Art Publication, has exhibited her artwork across North America, and is now privileged and blessed to work as the Operations Manager for the Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert, SK. Lindsay is a member of Métis Nation of Saskatchewan.
Community
10% of all sales are donated to charitable organizations based in Prince Albert, SK:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters Prince Albert
- Prince Albert Indian and Métis Friendship Centre
- Prince Albert Métis Womens Association
- Prince Albert Mobile Crisis Unit
- YWCA
