 Her mother's family is from Papaschase First Nation, Alberta, and they also lived at Kikino Metis settlement for several years.L'Hirondelle's father emigrated from Germany as a young man shortly after WWII, and initially worked as an inventor for CIL and then later, in the oil industry moving the family around the western provinces to be near many of his gas plant startups.The family eventually moved to Calgary in 1964, where she attended St. Margaret's Elementary and Junior High School.