Top 10 Scarves for All Seasons

Welcome to our top ten list for Native-made scarves. Whether you are battling the cold winter or accessorizing a summer outfit, we've listed our favorites below. 

Please share this list with your networks, along with your favorite Native-made scarves in your own collections. I own scarves by Virgil Ortiz, Jamie Okuma, Maggie Thompson, Sarah Agaton Howes, and more. The scarves I own are limited edition and no longer available, so I feel rather special when I wear them, like, "Yes, this is a classic."

Fest Fashion Sans Headdress: How to do Coachella/Native-Inspired Fashion Right

We are kicking off the music festival season, and I want to do all I can to ensure that we do not continue to witness the tacky headdress outbreak that we've experienced in the past several years (just say no to fashion mistakes like Alessandra Ambrosio, left). So, to help out, we've got some non-offensive, super hot, festival-chic Native American fashion options for you music fest lovers out there. These items are made by Native artists and designers, and they are meant to be appreciated by people of all backgrounds, and, the items start at only $22.

Go Native 2014

It’s a new year, it’s a new day. Let’s launch a new trend. Let’s breathe energy into our current Native American renaissance. Let’s go Native.

The expression ‘to go Native’ has been around for a while, and roughly means (from a non-Indigenous settler perspective) to take on the lifestyle or outlook of the local inhabitants that is different from one’s own.

In the past, to ‘go Native’ has had some very negative connotations: according to dictionaries, it has meant “to adopt the lifestyle of the local population, especially when it appears less civilized” or “to imitate the behavior of a surrounding culture, especially behavior that seems simple or natural.” (We know this is incorrect; we know our Indigenous cultures are complex, beautiful, full of wisdom and civility). But what if we rethink this concept?

Artist Profile | Nalaga O'Brien

Avis Nalaga O’Brien, a Haida/Kwakwakw’wakw artist, was born in Alert Bay, British Columbia. She belongs to the Kaa’was Staa’stas Eagle Clan from Kiusta Village in Haida Gwaii and the Geegilgum Clam of the Likwiolk people of Cape Mudge. Nalaga’s introduction to the treasures of the Northwest Coast started when she learned to weave from her older sister, Meghann O’Brien. This was the beginning of her journey to where she is now, embracing the richness of her cultural heritage and creating jewelry and artwork that reflects the beauty of Northwest Coast Native design.

Fashion HEAT | Jamie Okuma

You've undoubtedly seen her work before - either in feature articles in magazines, or in a viral Facebook picture of some killer fully-beaded boots, or at the Heard and Santa Fe Indian Markets snatching up the Best of Show ribbon. Her name is Jamie Okuma, and she is one young, cool beadwork artist who is making waves in the art and fashion worlds. She's a true genius, and whether you're into 'traditional' Native quill and beadwork clothing, or rockin' contemporary Native chic, we all flip when we see her work.

Okuma showed her first fashion collection at the Fashion HEAT event held in August, and I caught up with her to ask her about the show.

Video | Maya Stewart: Profiles of a Nation

Maya Stewart is one of my favorite designers. I first met her in New York at an Unreserved Alliance fashion event held in 2009. But Manhattan was a far ways away from where she originally grew up - in a small town in Oklahoma.

She comes from a family of designers (some of whom I came across in my research of Oklahoma Native fashion designers in the 1980s). She says she has always loved accessories - and throughout her handbag collections, she pairs her Native heritage (she's Chickasaw, Creek and Choctaw) with a modern flair.

Designer Profile | Candace Halcro

Designer Candace Halcro is a Plains Cree/Métis from Saskatchewan, Canada. With her company BrownBeaded, she has been catching the eye of fashion lovers worldwide with her fashion-forward one-of-a-kind beaded pieces, such as her ultra-cool beaded sunglasses.

But the international attention didn't happen overnight.

In her hometown region, beadwork and other local Indigenous traditions are a central aspect of the visual culture.

ELLE France Includes Metis Artist Candace Halcro

Candace Halcro was recently featured in ELLE France's June 7, 2012 issue.

Halcro is Metis Aboriginal from Saskatchewan, Canada.

She says her designs are rooted in Native American tradition but not confined to it.

You can see more of Halcro's work by clicking here, or check out the Elle spread by clicking below.

NAFW12 | Cree Nisga'a Boots

Much to my happiness, I got to see the cool boots of Cree Nisga'a Clothing made by Linda Lavallee (of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation), her husband Patrick Stewart (of the Nisga'a in northern British Columbia) and their son Cory Lavallee at the National Aboriginal Fashion Week. Specializing in beautifully decorated footwear, their boots are an adaptation of historic tall moccasins and mukluks from the cool northern subarctic region.

Each pair of boots is handcrafted using leathers and decorated using either painting or cutwork. They specialize in creating boots tailored to your feet - they can trace your foot to get the initial boot impression to whip you up a custom-made pair.

Artist Profile | Michelle Lowden

One of the many things that I love about contemporary Native American designers and artists is their ability to take their cultural artistic legacy and remix it to create something beautiful and new.

Take for example, the artwork of Michelle Lowden. Lowden comes from the Pueblo of Acoma located in New Mexico. Her great-grandmother is well-known potter Marie Z. Chino, and, clearly influenced by Chino, Lowden continues the act of creating brilliant patterns.

Artist Profile | JT Willie

Navajo artist JT Willie is the brains and creativity behind JTW Bead Designs.

I first saw Willie's work at the Santa Fe Indian Market a couple years back. His designs are striking and bright. My favorite work of his would have to be his jewelry that combines silverwork with beadwork.

Originally from Twin Lakes, New Mexico, Willie started beading as a teenager, learning techniques from his family, beaders, steamstress, and silversmiths. At the age of 16, he learned the style of beadwork from the Kiowa and Comanche Tribes of Oklahoma. He researches different styles of beadwork and incorporates them into his own unique style.

Artist Profile | Kristen Dorsey

Beyond Buckskin is proud to introduce the fabulous Ms. Kristen Dorsey.

Dorsey is a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation. She is a silversmith artist who seeks to bring the power and beauty of ancient Southeast Native American symbols to the present through her exquisite jewelry collections.

Always an eye on the past, Dorsey brings the meanings and stories forward with each of her creations.

Support Native Made, Not Native Knock-Offs

With Native American cultures inspiring and influencing the broader fashion industry these days (you can see it splattered all over fashion magazines and catalogues), I think it's time we start including (actual) Native American artists in this movement, rather than just our awesome inspiring cultures. I mean, we (the people) still exist.

And this is one of the reasons why I decided to launch the Boutique.

Virgil Ortiz's Translator

Virgil Ortiz never ceases to amaze. His projects and ideas are always developing and pushing Native American pottery and fashion to new places.

His latest projects reimagine the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, catapulting the historic event hundreds of years into the future and underlining the importance of the past by making it relevant today and projecting it into the future.

House of Darylene

Navajo fashion designer Darylene Martin founded Martini Couture in the summer of 2008. This first exploration into fashion design was inspired by the idea of a Navajo martini - a party-inspired concoction of dresses, shirts and accessories that had a distinct hip, upscale classy mixture of colors and silhouettes.

A smart designer, Martin is expanding her business to a house of design that consists of her first label, Martini Couture, along with two new branches: Summer Rain and Savage Beauty. The Summer Rain collection is inspired by her Native heritage and the elegance of the Navajo concept of 'Walking in Beauty'. The Savage Beauty line is a bold and sexy (and sometimes punk) interpretation of an urban Native woman.

Designer Profile | Kevin Duncan

You are going to flip when you see the cool totes and backpacks made by Kevin Duncan (San Carlos Apache/Arikara/Hidatsa/Mandan). And they look even more awesome in person.

Fusing Northern Plains and Southwest Native American patterns with modern fabrics (like sequins) and prints (like hot pink zebra), Duncan brings us the ultimate freshness when it comes to ndn accessories.

Seeing his collection made me realize that I just hadn't lived life properly, since I had been carrying around my books and laptop sans Painted Warrior. Duncan started Painted Warrior Designs in 2010 with beadwork, gradually adding different accessories to his line.

Graduation Double Pride

Graduation across Indian country is an exciting time! We all come together to celebrate the achievements of our friends and family. Most of these graduates have had to sacrifice precious time with family, many have had to move away from their home communities in pursuit of higher education, but all are on important missions that (in my eyes) help our communities to move towards greater self-governance.

If you will be graduating this spring, please consider wearing your tribe's regalia or otherwise wearing your identity on your cap and gown.

Urban Beat | CTV British Columbia

Click the link below to access a cool video put out by CTV British Columbia. Titled Urban Beat, this 22-minute long segment looks into the simmering controversy over the definition of Métis, and the first Métis nation Prime Minister. Also meet contemporary artist Alano Edzerza making his mark in Northwest Coast design, then roll out with a fresh new Beat Nation art project that takes tradition and puts it on wheels, hip-hop style.

"It's a Kiva Bag"

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) worked with Charles Loloma (Hopi) to create couture handbags that they sold out of their boutiques in Scottsdale. These purses were so popular that in 1949 the phrase “It’s a Kiva bag,” was coined and printed in local and national newspapers.

Cherry Blossom | Mea B'fly Earrings

Yay! The latest addition to my earring collection arrived this weekend!

They come from the creative hands of MaRia A. Bird, the owner of Mea B'fly Designs. The name of her small business is a combination of Mea, a childhood nickname short for MaRia, and B'fly, short for butterfly "in honor of my late great grandmother and giver of all that is special and cherished by me - family and self."