2021 Indigenous Gift Guide

Good Medicine

• Peppermint “i lichen you” Hand and Body Soap from UASAU
  • “Uasau Soap (pronounced ooh-ah-sow) draws its inspiration from prehistoric Inuit tradition and the Nuna. They create sustainably sourced Indigenous Soaps made with Traditional Inuit Practices. The entire community comes together to cooperate in a life-sustaining effort passed down for countless generations. Inuit are known for their resourcefulness and not wasting any part of an animal. And Uasau Soap follows suit, only using bowhead whale oil from community hunts.” 

• Personal Medicine Bundle from @hummingbird_spirits 
  • “Choose a bundle package and have it delivered to a loved one! Or donate what you can so we can distribute medicines to those in need at no cost.” 
  • order via email at Info@hummingbirdspirits.com or DM via Instagram Account

• Digestive Tea Blend from Hunter the Trapper
  • “Hunter the Trapper is a Métis owned and operated small business located in Southern Georgian Bay, Ontario. Specializing in Herbal Medicine, Antler Jewelry and Deer hides.” 

• $28 ḴW’ÚḴWIḴW Seaweed + Mint Rejuvenating Bath Soak from Sḵwálwen
  • 10% of sales support the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
  • “Sḵwálwen (skwall – win) is a luxury Indigenous brand creating botanical skin care products. Honouring traditional Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) plant knowledge, we incorporate sustainably harvested and sourced plants and organic, high quality ingredients. Each product has a Squamish name to honour the place where this plant knowledge comes from.” 

• Quarterly Empowerment Box from Dragonfly Moons
  • “Dragonfly Moons – Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities is a province-wide collaborative partnership of Inuit, Southern Inuit, Innu and Mi’kmaq women who are striving to end gender-based violence and inspire positive mental health through culturally based programming that will help to create sustainable economic and financial stability in Indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.” 

Creator   

• Land Back Stickers by Sweetgrass by Heather
  • “Sweetgrass Beads is a beadwork and sticker small business owned and operated by Heather Stewart, a Cree artist based in what is currently Ontario. She has a monthly beadwork sale on the 10th at noon EST.” 

• Christmas Ornaments by One Crafty Mi’kmaq
  • “One Crafty Mi’kmaq is owned and operated by Amanda Brooks, a Mi’kmaw entrepreneur based in Millbrook First Nation, Truro, NS. Through her business, Amanda hopes to inspire people to learn the Mi’kmaw language and have the opportunity to purchase home décor, giftware and stationery in the Mi’kmaw language that people can proudly display in their home, office or to give away as a gift.” 

• Ur Sacrit Poster by Nativelovenotes
  • Native Love Notes is “a little rezzy, a little deadly, and 100% Indigenous owned.” It’s run by Amy from Opaskwayak Cree Nation and is located on Treaty One Territory (Winnipeg).  

• Winter Solstice Diffuser Blend by Land of Daughters 
  • “Metis + female founded, we’ve been around since July 2018 with a focus on creating unique scents for our candles, aroma sprays and solid perfumes. We love all things cozy and seasonal, and we’re homebodies to the core. This is reflected in a lot of the names we choose and also inspires the types of scents we design. Community is extremely important to us and one of the best parts of this business is when customers turn into friends.” 

• Beaders Delight Holiday Bundle from Sisters Sage
  • “Sisters Sage hand crafts beautiful modern self-care & wellness products using traditional indigenous ingredients.” 

Ever Fancy 

• Ishkoday in White –Adult Face Mask by Indigo Arrows
  •  “Our Ishkoday design was inspired by ancient tools and patterns from Manitoba. Ishkoday (meaning fire in Anishinaabemowin) is part of our Elements Series representing “fire” and designed by Anishinaabe interior designer Destiny Seymour. With your purchase of one of these limited edition masks, you will be directly supporting the Butterfly Club in Winnipeg, MB. The Butterfly Club is a program designed to engage, motivate, and support Indigenous girls and Two-Spirit youth, 9-13 years of age, in cultural, social, and leadership development activities.” 

• NDN Toque by Rez Famous
  • “The Clothing Brand built on Indigenization & The Rez. Based in New Brunswick, Canada.” 

• Baby’s First 2021 Stocking by Finawear
  • “Each product features authentic Indigenous art created by me, Shar Wilson, Gitxsan artist! When I draw, I feel I am in Spirit that immerses me in the strength of my ancestors, the love of my family and my son, Jordan, who have gone on to their next journey. I heard an Elder explain that he, too, is now my Ancestor. The profound effect this comment had on me brought me forward in my journey.” 

• Ugly Metis Xmas Sweater by MÉTEES
  • “Métees are designed by Douglas Richard Sinclair, a citizen of the Métis Nation registered with the Manitoba Metis Federation.” 

• Single Seasonal Indigenous Box by Indigenous Box
  • “Indigenous Box’s mission is to promote and elevate the good work being done by Indigenous entrepreneurs. Mallory Yawnghwe, is a nehiyaw iskwew from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Treaty Six Territory, North Eastern Alberta. Each box Seasonal includes at least 5-7 unique  items. Products may vary occasionally from box to box depending on the capacities of the small businesses that supply our boxes. But don’t worry, everything you get in your box has been selected to meet our high standards. Custom boxes are created to meet your needs and budget as either a Mini, Full-size, or Premium box.” 

N8V Book Club

• Talking to the Diaspora by Lee Maracle | shop at AK Press
  • “From the revolutionary ‘Where Is that Odd Dandelion-Looking-Flower’ to the tender poem ‘Salmon Dance,’ from the biting ‘Language’ to the elegiac ‘Boy in the Archives,’ these poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which Lee Maracle is beloved and revered.” 
  • “AK Press is a worker-run collective that publishes and distributes radical books and other media to expand minds and change worlds.” 

• Louis Riel Day The Fur Trade Project by Deborah L. Delaronde | shop at Theytus Books
  • “A young boy learns about the history of the fur trade and Louis Riel Day for a school project with the help of his grandfather in this illustrated picture book.” 
  • “Theytus Books is a leading North American publisher of Indigenous voices. Located in Syilx territory on the Penticton Indian Reserve in British Columbia, Theytus Books is proudly First Nations-owned and operated in partnership with the En’owkin Centre.”

• Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
  • “A girl grows up in Nunavut in the 1970s. She knows joy, and friendship, and parents” love. She knows boredom, and listlessness, and bullying. She knows the tedium of the everyday world, and the raw, amoral power of the ice and sky, the seductive energy of the animal world. She knows the ravages of alcohol, and violence at the hands of those she should be able to trust. She sees the spirits that surround her, and the immense power that dwarfs all of us. When she becomes pregnant, she must navigate all this.” 

• Warrior Life by Pamela Palmater | shop at Fernwood Publishing
  • “Palmater addresses a range of Indigenous issues — empty political promises, ongoing racism, sexualized genocide, government lawlessness, and the lie that is reconciliation — and makes the complex political and legal implications accessible to the public.”  
  • “Fernwood Publishing and our literary imprint, Roseway, publish critical books that inform, enlighten and challenge. We are political publishers in that our books acknowledge, confront and contest intersecting forms of oppression and exploitation. We believe that in publishing books that challenge the status quo and imagine new ways forward we participate in the creation of a more socially just world.” 

• Seasonal Subscription Raven Reads Box by Raven Reads 
  • “Raven Reads was founded on the premise of raising awareness of our collective histories, lived experiences and supporting Indigenous authors and entrepreneurs. By simply subscribing to our box you are having a tremendous impact. Since our inception, we have invested over $300,000 into other Indigenous businesses and authors across Canada and the USA.” 

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