![\"Jesi](\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/unsettledspirits_se01_stills_jesi_h0a7071_304929575.jpg\" "\\"Jesi")
Since she was a child, Jesi Whitton felt like she could contact the spirit world.
Born in Edmonton and raised in Maskwacis, Whitton, part of the Louis Bull Tribe, is taking her ghost-hunting skills to the small screen. Unsettled Spirits debuts on APTN Sept. 2. Whitton and fellow paranormal investigator Amanda Quill will use modern technology and longstanding Indigenous spiritual wisdom to get to the bottom of Canadian hauntings.
The ghost story is something that is consistent in pretty well every culture around the world. A 2025 University of British Columbia study found that about one-third of Canadians believe that “places can be haunted by spirits.” And, for the two-thirds of Canadians who are skeptics, many are still entertained and thrilled by stories of the paranormal.
Whitton said the fact that the majority of us are still in the “skeptic” category only makes her work all that much more important.
“I feel that those people (skeptics) are meant to be in the world for a reason,” said Whitton. “That really amplifies the work that I do. You know there’s skeptics and I know that they are doubtful until they have an experience.
“Sometimes I honestly am envious of people who have never had an experience because it can be a lot. And, when it’s your whole life, I always wonder what it would feel like just to be completely oblivious, and have that blissful ignorance about it. How peaceful is that? But I know I’ve been designed by the Creator to have this gift, and it’s a very powerful gift, and I have a mission to remind people of the sacredness of our spiritual health.”
Whitton claims that the “gift” of being able to see the spirit world has always been with her.
“There’s stories that my family have about me being even a very small toddler — connecting with spirits and interaction with things that weren’t there, and I really don’t have a time where I can say it started because it’s always kind of been there. There are occurrences when I was three, four years old that I do remember, and I’ve always carried those with me. I didn’t have that ability built in me to, have a fear of it, because it was just something that was normal to me.”
She said that the horrors of some movies and books isn’t replicated when she investigates haunted places. Most spirits are benign, even ones who might be doing things that the living would consider scary, she said. A lot of times, the spirits just want to be seen, and do what they can to make the living notice them. Sometimes they want co-existence, sometimes they are looking for ways to move on. Sometimes, the ghosts are the ones who are afraid.
“Not everything that we interact with is evil,” said Whitton. “Everything has a place. Every type of spirit is going through a journey on their own, and we’ve got to create a safe space for that. A good spirit that is upset can come across as a bad spirit because it’s frightening, but really it’s just an upset spirit that has had its heart broken, or something is happening, like the home that they loved is getting renovated, or the people who moved in aren’t living the way they would want them to. It can cause a disruption to that spirit. For a lot of people who are unaware of that understanding, they can jump to conclusions and add to that collective idea that they’re scary spirits, that they shouldn’t belong there, and that they’re evil when really they’re not.”
Since she is a Louis Bull member, Whitton spent a lot of her childhood in and around Maskwacis, 95 km south of Edmonton, and also travelled extensively with her family. She now calls Vancouver home, where she is a chef by day. She has cooked at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre and has a catering service. She does aid work for those on Vancouver’s infamous Downtown East Side. There is crossover with her work as a paranormal investigator: Whitton said that one of the things that spirits miss the most about the material world is food.
In her culture, it’s important to set out a “spirit plate” at a gathering, meant to be enjoyed by those on the other side. It is an act that shows you have not forgotten those who came before you.
“Making a spirit plate for a spirit, it is very special for them,” said Whitton. “And I’ve had spirits come to me in my dreams of my own family. I’ve had family members come to me and tell me ‘I’m hungry, I’m hungry.'”
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