A Stoney tribe member of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in central Alberta, Canada, where she was raised, Paulina is the youngest of four children. Descended from a long line of cultural singers and artists, hunters, storytellers, filmmakers and scholars, she seemed destined to pursue a life in the arts. Her grandfather was the late Logan Alexis, a world-renowned round dance singer and song maker in Treaty Six Territory. All three of her brothers are filmmakers and actors today.