Graduate Aims to Bring Visibility to Indigenous Community Through Fashion

Growing up, Yegunahareeta (Hareeta) Printup ’24 was immersed in the tradition and beauty of Indigenous culture.

Printup, a fashion design major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), a 2024 VPA Scholar, a Haudenosaunee Promise Scholar and a member of the Tuscarora Nation’s Beaver Clan, was born and raised on the Onondaga Nation, where her maternal grandmother was a faithkeeper. Printup’s parents raised her in the nation’s longhouse in a very traditional way. “I have a lot of memories growing up there,” she says.

She was especially drawn to the music and dance performed during ceremonies to honor their Creator. “It’s the heart and soul of what we do,” Printup says. Although she was an artistic child, her dreams of the future included a range of possible careers, including being a marine biologist.

After graduating from Niagara-Wheatfield High School near Buffalo, New York, she went to community college and dealt with some health challenges. Printup spent some time working, including in Florida, but several circumstances, including the COVID-19 pandemic, made her think about changing her life’s direction.

Intricate beadwork on a skirt (Photo by Charles Wainwright)

“It really was a blessing in disguise for me because I don’t think I would’ve applied to SU if I didn’t have that moment to reconsider my life,” Printup says. “I was not happy with what I was doing at all.”

Another influence in her decision to go back to school was her dad, Ruchatneet Printup ’23, who decided to return to school and earn a film degree from VPA following nearly three decades in the workforce. “Dad said, ‘Now’s the time, you really should come back to school.’ I really didn’t think I was ever going to do it.”

Hareeta wasn’t sure what she wanted to pursue but realized fashion design was an option. “I thought to myself, ‘This is really something I could do,’” she says. “I’ve always had an interest in clothes, I just never considered it a career path before. It was like all the pieces fell together.”

While clothing with meaning is often seen at Indigenous ceremonies, it is not often seen in everyday life. Printup wants to bring design elements and historical details used and worn by her ancestors and incorporate them into modern and contemporary designs.

“We express ourselves a lot through the jewelry,” Printup says. “But if we had more clothing that had tribal prints, or beadwork or images that reflect us, if we had more options, I think we would lean into that more.”

Hareeta Printup, right, and her dad, Ruchatneet Printup ’23, at this spring’s Senior Fashion Show at the Nancy Cantor Warehouse (Photo courtesy of Hareeta Printup

Printup draws heavily on inspiration from the natural world in her designs. Through her work, she hopes to bring visibility to the Indigenous community. “As Indigenous people, we often find ourselves dressing every day in a manner that does not reflect our Indigenous identities,” she says. “I aspire to create clothes that bring comfortability to my community members and allow them to show up as themselves.”

While Printup found her calling within her studies, adapting to college life during the pandemic was challenging. “It was isolating,” she says of her first year on campus when social distancing was in effect and social activities were restricted. As an older student, she had moments of self-doubt. “I just needed to believe that I could do it,” she says. “I really have treated these four years like they’re my life’s work.”

Printup found a great deal of support from her dad, as the two shared an off-campus apartment during her time at Syracuse. “Honestly, it was awesome. My dad and I are so much alike. We do a lot of the same things, so it really worked out.” As both were engaged in creative studies, dad and daughter often bounced ideas off each other. And dad stepped in to provide support and sage advice when needed.

Hareeta Printup with some of her designs (Photo by Charles Wainwright)

The success Ruchatneet Printup, a University Scholar and VPA Scholar in 2023, enjoyed on campus also inspired his daughter to succeed academically. “I know how great he is, but it was wonderful to see him get the recognition he so deserved,” Hareeta says.

Printup will return to the Buffalo area after graduation. She is excited to see where her journey takes her next. For now, her next big endeavor is becoming a mom. Printup and her partner are expecting their first child—a girl—in August.

“My end goal is to run my own business, to have my own line of clothing,” Printup says. “I really enjoy working with my hands, so as long as I can find something that fulfills me in that way, I’ll be happy.”

What also makes Printup happy is seeing someone wear clothing that she has poured her heart and soul into. “It brings me so much joy, in all honesty. It’s finding myself in the community in a way. Growing up, I was a dancer. I was never the best dancer, but I was out there,” she says. “Now I’m realizing that maybe that’s not my place in the circle. Maybe my place is creating the clothes for the dancer. We all have our places in community, and so I think this is just me making that shift of finding where I belong.”