Born in 1943 in Saskatchewan, she spent her early years attending school in Prince Albert and later Melfort, Saskatchewan where she graduated from high school in 1961.

One of her ancestral Grandmothers was Titameg born in 1763 at York Factory, one of the first Hudson Bay Company trading posts in what was then called Rupert's Land. Serenaís maternal ancestors traveled from post to post with their European husbands', employees of rival fur trade companies, the Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Trading Company. In response to the joining of these two companies, a large area of Manitoba called the Red River Settlement received large numbers of trading families as the labour force was reduced.

Serenaís ancestors lived in a number of these settlements along the shores of the Red River until the 1870's when the government of the day began to move the Metis out of the area in order to bring European settlers to this rich farm land.

Serena has moved around Canada during her life, much like her ancestors and in 1980 came to Yukon on a holiday. She began to explore her cultural roots and to write short stories and poetry, much of it published. One of her short stories "Flat Mountain Taxtales" was adapted for television then produced and broadcast nationally by CBC in 1996. Serena received a Certificate of Honour at the 20th Annual American Indian Film Festival in November, 1995 for her contribution to Native American Cinematic Arts.

In addition to writing Serena enjoys the oral tradition of story telling, much of her written work begins in the oral tradition. She has traveled throughout North America as a storyteller and was invited to a cultural festival in Russia, where she was able to tell her stories to schoolchildren using an interpreter.