Indigenous fashion show a highlight of Native American Heritage Month

The theme Existence as Resistance was expressed via fashion — ancestral and contemporary — in a culture-connecting event this month.

Western Washington University’s Native American Student Union (NASU) hosted its annual Indigenous Fashion Show at Bellis Fair Mall on Nov. 8.

The fashion show was part of Western’s series of Native American Heritage Month events, which culminated in a closing celebration last Friday.

“NASU partnered with other Native organizations and schools to promote our youth and express our different kinds of Indigeneity to the greater Bellingham community,” NASU member Hayley Abella said.

Whatcom County’s Native American population comprises mostly members of the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish and Semiahmoo tribes. Today, the Lummi Indian Reservation is the largest Native American reservation in the county, serving more than 5,000 members.

The fashion show featured music and emceeing by Lummi DJ Big Rez, a performance by hip-hop artist THNK WYZE, a Seattle native and Swinomish resident, and modeling.

A common thread

Favio Guzman-Estrada, Harmony DeVaney and Good Boy were three designers featured at the fashion show. Though each designer’s creative process differs, a common thread among them is the motivation to connect, or to reconnect, with their heritage.

“My work is inspired by those who came before me,” Guzman-Estrada said.

Guzman-Estrada, a senior at Western, is a queer, mixed CHamoru Mexican artist born and raised in Coast Salish territory. They work primarily with block print design and with secondhand clothing and raffia fiber, a material used in traditional Mexican weaving.

Seven of Guzman-Estrada’s designs, which they describe as their personal visions of Indigenous Futurism, were modeled in the show.

Anishinaabe academic Grace Dillon first coined the term “Indigenous Futurisms” in 2003 to refer to an Indigenous art and media movement envisioned through the lens of science fiction.

“Indigenous Futurisms offer new ways of reading our own ancient natures,” Dillon wrote in her 2012 work “Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction.”

Making waves

The Indigenous Fashion Show’s theme this year was Existence as Resistance. Among the pieces modeled were headpieces, earrings, necklaces, t-shirts, jackets, and skirts. “Our fashion, both ancestral and contemporary, is a continual effort to connect with our respective cultures,” Abella said.

Indigenous fashion has made waves in the American and Canadian fashion industries in the past decade and especially in the past year. The first-ever Native Fashion Week in the U.S. was held in May in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In Whatcom County, Indigenous fashion is a growing movement. Whatcom County-based organizations like Native Arts 360 and the Make.Shift Art Space are increasing awareness of young, local Indigenous designers.

Harmony DeVaney is a queer, nonbinary, Indigenous artist of Iñupiaq Alaska Native heritage with family from the Diomede Islands and Wales Island. They are a senior at Western this year.

“I started designing in 2020,” DeVaney said. “I come from a long line of artists … I never really connected with an art media until I tried beading.” For DeVaney, designing means to be “loudly Indigenous” and “to take up space.”

DeVaney mostly works with denim and frequently incorporates beads, ribbons, fabric, and embroidery in their design. Their aunt sent them their first beads.

DeVaney showcased various designs at the fashion show, including a black denim jacket displaying a Palestinian flag design on its back and another jacket with a back displaying multicolored, flat-stitched lettering that read “LAND BACK.”

Good Boy’s start in fashion design also traces back to their connection with family.

Good Boy identifies as a Filipino Hispanic, second-generation American, and is a Western graduate. They first took up creating with chainmail as a way to cope with their grandmother’s fight with Parkinson’s disease and eventual passing.

“I am almost always thinking of my grandma when I am working. Now with a full heart, it is through her that I was able to find myself,” Good Boy said.

A number of Good Boy’s jewelry pieces made an appearance at the fashion show.

“I get a lot of joy from making necklaces that people can use to express themselves,” Good Boy said. They also make rings and medieval weapon sculptures made entirely of chainmail and often draw inspiration from ornate Catholic imagery and symbolism.

Other designers and businesses participating in the Indigenous Fashion Show this year included Copper Canoe Woman, Jason LaClair, 10 Buffalos and Savannah LeCornu.

As Indigenous fashion furthers its presence in the global industry, local designers are boldly exploring both traditional and contemporary ways to infuse their culture into their creations.

— By Josh Hernandez

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