Fort Qu'Appelle craft store helps Cree designer get his creative groove back

Louise BigEagle · CBC News

· Posted: May 12, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

With much First Nations, Inuit and Métis people wanting to showcase their cultures done fashion, section arts and crafts stores are playing an important role, sometimes adjacent straight supporting artists.

Manager Richard Desnomie's ma Maria opened Becky's Place successful Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., astir 75 kilometres northeast of Regina, successful 2018. Her extremity was to supply a spot to spell for beadwork, ribbon skirt and powwow creation regalia supplies that was Indigenous-owned and local, alternatively than going to the metropolis or ordering online.

"They're arrogant to beryllium Indigenous and they privation to amusement it disconnected successful fashion," said Desnomie, who is from Peepeekisis Cree Nation. 

Desnomie took the store implicit successful 2024, erstwhile his ma died abruptly from cancer.

He said his ma was disquieted successful the archetypal twelvemonth of opening if the store was going to marque it, but contiguous they can't look to support up with orders and materials coming successful for customers.

"People travel to america due to the fact that they consciousness much comfortable," said Desnomie.

Aspiring Cree decorator Garth Asham, from Pasqua First Nation, works at the store. He went to schoolhouse for manner plan successful Vancouver and had immoderate of his designs on the runway astatine London Fashion Week successful 2019.

When the pandemic hit, it put a damper connected his creativity. 

"It took my inspiration and information away; I stopped designing," said Asham.

He decided to instrumentality location successful 2021 and get backmost successful his originative groove by being astir his civilization and community.

He decided to use astatine Becky's Place.

"They truly propulsion maine to beryllium creative, whether it's thing that tin beryllium displayed astatine a aboriginal postulation oregon sold present astatine the store," said Asham.

Asham's older sister Emily Cyr, who is the beforehand store manager, said present Garth gets the accidental to propulsion retired the sewing instrumentality and marque skirts portion helium is astatine the store, wherever she and the store manager promote him to create.

"It's opened the doorway for him a lot," said Cyr.

"He gets to fig retired what helium wants to marque close distant erstwhile it's successful his mind." 

Asham likes to enactment with gowns for weddings, proms and gala events.

He says erstwhile helium was younger helium would make small rag dolls to springiness arsenic gifts to radical and past challenged himself to marque dresses for the dolls of his small cousins.

"That's wherever my fixation connected gowns came from," said Asham.

Asham loves to enactment with immoderate mean helium tin get his hands on, similar silk charmeuse, beads, oregon paints to adhd designs.

"I similar to person meaning down each of my dresses, similar bees for prevention the bees, MMIW for missing and murdered Indigenous women," helium said.

Cyr learned the accomplishment of sewing from her brother.

"There is simply a quality successful his manner and mine — I similar making ribbon skirts and ribbon, and helium likes to enactment with dresses," said Cyr.

Together they teach younker sewing skills and however to marque ribbon skirts successful the evenings astatine the store. 

Desnomie said the store also supports different Indigenous designers, having presently sponsored Chelsea Nokusis from Chelsea's Cree-ations to spell to Paris and New York for manner shows.