Hope Arises is inviting residents to join them for a workshop to mark National Ribbon Skirt Day.
From 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Jan. 4, people can sit in at Partners Hall in Huntsville to learn about the history, significance, and process of making ribbon skirts.
Joyce Crone, President of Hope Arises, explains the day was federally recognized in 2022, after Saskatchewan student Isabella Kulak was shamed for wearing the traditional garment to a school event in 2021.
“They’re very important to Indigenous culture, to Indigenous women, to our spirituality,” says Crone. “Ribbon skirts also connect us to the land, to our culture, to the Earth. It also is related to learning about violence against Indigenous women.”
Crone says they’re also a means of connecting to a culture that many Indigenous People were not allowed to celebrate growing up.
“I did not grow up knowing what a ribbon skirt was, or wearing one, because of lost culture,” says Crone. “When I first put a ribbon skirt on, I felt uncomfortable because I had never worn one. That was only four years ago. So it does bring me closer to my authentic self, to who I am as an Indigenous woman. It is a spiritual and very sacred moment when you put a ribbon skirt on and you can feel proud wearing it.”
Crone says the workshop is supported by retired teachers and seamstresses Mary Spring and Teri Howell, adding it’s a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants. She invites anyone to come by to learn more.
“It’s a connection to one another, just listening to other women’s stories and getting support,” says Crone. “It is a part of the reconciliation process. Our elder said to me ‘this is the relationship that should have been occurring with the Europeans from the start.’ It didn’t begin on a poor note, it began on a good note with the blending of cultures.”
