When Deb Haaland was sworn in as U.S. secretary of the interior last week, she wore a ribbon skirt adorned with butterflies, stars and the colours of the rainbow.
The moment meant a lot to Agnes Woodward, a Plains Cree dressmaker from Kawacatoose First Nation in Saskatchewan, who made the garment.
"Growing up, sometimes it felt like no matter how much we as a people fought for our right to be heard, for our right to be at tables making decisions on our behalf, it felt like we were often not heard," said Woodward, who now lives in New Town, N.D.
"So for Deb Haaland to be in, you know, one of the most highest positions in this country in front of the world, standing in a ribbon skirt that represents so much for our people is definitely a moment that obviously we've been seen … that we are visible and she represents all of us."
Haaland was sworn in by U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on March 18, becoming the first Native American to hold a cabinet position in the U.S. She worked with Woodward directly on the design of the ribbon skirt she wore. The bands of colour represent all people, while the cornstalk represents Haaland's own community, the Laguna Pueblo, a Native American tribe in New Mexico.
Haaland also wore a ribbon skirt to the inauguration in January. When asked about the significance of what she wore to be sworn in, she said: "I just felt like I should represent my people."
"I thought it would just make some folks proud out there."
The garments are traditional across many Indigenous cultures, representing strength and womanhood. They are often tailored to represent specific communities, mark specific events or draw attention to important issues.
Woodward hated ribbon skirts as a child
But Woodward had a rocky relationship with ribbon skirts as a child. Experiencing racism growing up in Saskatchewan affected her self-esteem and relationship to her own culture.
"My family jokes about having to wrestle me into a skirt because I hated it so much, and the only reason I hated it was because I carried so much shame from the racism," she said.
"I always felt like if I dress like I was Native more, then I'm asking for negative attention."
She began to wear ribbon skirts again about 15 years ago when attending traditional ceremonies with her husband.
After one ceremony, she started to change out of her skirt to go into a grocery store — and noticed her kids were watching her.
"In that moment, I really realized, like, what am I doing right now?"
"Am I going to teach my children to carry on being ashamed of, you know, traditional protocols, traditional clothing, things like that?"
Woodward said the experience changed her perspective, and she began to make more ribbon skirts, improving her skills and promoting her own work as a seamstress.
Unpacking intergenerational trauma
As well as addressing the impact of racism she experienced as a child, Woodward has tried to better understand the trauma in her own family history.
Her father was a residential school survivor, and her mother a Sixties Scoop survivor.
Her aunt, Eleanor (Laney) Ewenin, was murdered on the outskirts of Calgary in 1982, the year Woodward was born.
Before Canada's national inquiry, Woodward's mother often met with others seeking justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women
"Afterwards she would talk with me on the phone and tell me how difficult it was, how heavy it was, how all of her emotions are just sitting, you know, on the top of her chest, in her throat," Woodward said.
The seamstress was living in Indiana at the time, and wasn't able to physically be with her mother.
"What I could do was create a skirt for her, a way to empower her. And a way to kind of wrap my own comfort around my mother," she said.
"We came up with this design that represents her and her sisters, our family's story."
Woodward posted the design online, and received requests to reproduce it. She did, with her family's consent. At a 2019 MMIWG memorial in Regina, Woodward handed out 150 of the ribbon skirts to women who had lost loved ones.
"I've now made like over 300, that skirt has been in front of Congress twice, when discussing important laws that affect Indigenous women," she said.
"It's really made a big, big impact."
Written by Padraig Moran. Produced by Kate Cornick.
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The Link LonkMarch 25, 2021 at 03:52AM
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Ribbon skirt worn at historic swearing in shows 'we are visible,' says Sask.-raised Cree designer who made it - CBC.ca
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