Decontie & Brown (Penobscot), Maine
SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market’s 2019 “Haute Couture” Fashion Show featured an exciting mix of new and established designers on the runway. This year’s Native designers included Decontie (Penobscot/Algonquin) & Brown (Penobscot), Catherine Blackburn (Dene), Delina White (Leech Lake Ojibwe), Margaret Roach Wheeler (Chickasaw/Choctaw), Lesley Hampton (Ojibwe/Mohawk), Sho Sho Esquiro (Kaska Dene/Cree), Pamela Baker (Kwaguilth/Tlingit/Haida), Shy Natives (Northern Cheyenne), Korina Emmerich (Puyallup), and Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo). Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Siksika) and her team organized the fashion show.
The show opened with a performance by hoop dancer Shandien LaRance, or Sonwaii (Hopi/Tewa/Assiniboine), and closed with a moving runway show/performance piece by Patricia Michaels which raised awareness of the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women. Tania Rose Larsson (Gwich’in) provided jewelry for Korina Emmerich’s looks.
Designers
- Decontie & Brown, Jason K. Brown and Donna Decontie-Brown, Wabanaki, Maine
- Catherine Blackburn, Dene, Saskatchewan
- I Am Anishinaabe, Delina White, Leech Lake Ojibwe, Minnesota
- Margaret Roach Wheeler, Mahota Studios, Chickasaw/Choctaw, Oklahoma
- Lesley Hampton, Anishinaabe/Mohawk, Toronto
- Sho Sho Esquiro, Kaska Dena, British Columbia
- Pamela Baker, Kwakwakaʼwakw/Tlingit/Haida, British Columbia
- Shy Natives, Jordan and Madison Craig, Northern Cheyenne, California
- Korina Emmerich, EMME, Puyallup, New York
- Patricia Michaels, PM Waterlily, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
