A survivor of the Sixties Scoop, as a child Bird-Wilson was adopted, disconnecting her from her Cree and Métis heritage.[1] This experience informs much of her writing.[1]
Bird-Wilson's debut collection of short stories, Just Pretending (2013), was chosen as the Saskatchewan Library Association's 2019 One Book One Province.[1] The book won four Saskatchewan Book Awards (including 2014 book of the year), and was a finalist for the 2014 Danuta Gleed Literary Award.[2][3] Reviewing the stories for The /tƐmz/ Review, Amy Mitchell says "the stories and characters are so alive, and the writing is so beautiful in its stripped-down simplicity."[4]
She has also published poetry and non-fiction books.
As of 2021[update], Bird-Wilson is CEO of the Gabriel Dumont Institute, the education arm of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan.[5][6] She is also a founding board member and chair of the Ânskohk Aboriginal Writers' Circle and founding president of the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Literacy Network.[7]