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The city of Calgary 
in Alberta, Canada

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was built on ancestral lands 
where the Bow and Elbow Rivers

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have long been a 
gathering place

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for indigenous nations.

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Today, it's a gathering place 
for a modern movement,

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indigenous fashion.

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So can you repeat all 
of the steps

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super quick

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before we start.

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So watch your posture,

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check your posture, 
shoulders back and down,

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chin up, ears in line 
with your shoulders,

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shoulder in line with your hip,

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hip in line with your knees,

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knee in line with your ankle.

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And then you're going to, 
from stance position, which is a

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your base foot is at 
a 45-degree angle.

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Your lead foot is pointing 
straight ahead

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and you're going to 
walk. Start

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with your lead 
foot at all times.

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This one.

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And you're going 
to walk toe to heel.

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Okay.

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Ready?

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And 3, 2, 1.

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Oh my gosh.

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I'm horrible at this.

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I can't, I can't do 
toe to heel.

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And make sure you're always at

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90 because you 
got photographers

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coming at you. 
- I'm like crashing into you,

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crashing into you.

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I'm ready for Paris.

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Here we come!

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Chelsa Racette kicked 
it off in 2012

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when she founded 
Indigenous Fashion Week.

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You guys, I'm so excited 
to be here

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talking with you and 
 with this view.

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So you brought me this, 
which is so incredible.

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You were just at, 
the fashion fair in Paris,

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and I was just reading 
about your statement,

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and it says,

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“Indigenous fashion is a form of 
art and self-expression.

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It's about telling stories 
about our ancestors

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passing thousands 
of years of traditions on.

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We're taking up spaces 
where we were not

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allowed 50 plus years ago.”

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That just made

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me shiver.

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Tell me, 
tell me about this movement.

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It's, you know, 
it's a movement about

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showing people that we're here,

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were people, were human beings

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We're not this Hollywood 
stereotypical native person.

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Right?

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We're breaking 
barriers, breaking boundaries,

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and stepping into

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the mainstream 
fashion industry.

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It's also about creating equal 
opportunities,

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both economically 
and in the fashion industry,

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where

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previously we weren't allowed.

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You're a model?

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I was, yes.

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You were a model.

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I started off 
modeling, yes.

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You started off modeling 
and then you

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created a model agency?

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Yes. We had a modeling agency.

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Tell me about the concept.

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Well, I started off modeling.

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I was in shows all across Canada

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and the States, and I just,

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I found that we weren't 
being represented

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to the full extent 
that we should have been.

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Right?

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So I started a modeling agency,

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and then I started 
doing fashion shows

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and all the network 
that I created,

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I just utilized it

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and put it together 
and put one big show on.

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And that was 2012

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was our first 
Indigenous Fashion Week.

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I've been a fashion 
model since 1972

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and when I initially 
started modeling,

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they never referred to 
me by my name.

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I was known as “the Indian,”

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which was derogatory

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in many ways,

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but I'm glad that I 
stuck with it,

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despite that, because 
now we're able

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to open doors for so 
many more Indigenous

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peoples moving forward, 
whether they be

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fashion designers, 
models, makeup artists,

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hairstylists, photographers,

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everybody, we want to 
bring them all with us.

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So you were placed in a box,

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and now you're taking that box

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out into the world 
and the mainstream

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and taking up space

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Yeah.

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where you belong. 
- Yes.

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And what have been,

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do you feel the 
biggest obstacles?

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Opportunity and access.

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Those were the biggest obstacles 
that I found

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in terms of being able 
to start my company.

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And then when I met Chelsa,

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and then she introduced 
me to Tyson.

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So we all started 
working together

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and pooling our 
resources and our skills.

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And I think that that's what's

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been able to allow 
us to move forward

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and to bring so many 
others with us.

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So, it is I am not the 
Indigenous model,

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I'm a model.

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But I'm bringing 
everything I have

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to that space.

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We now have access to more

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designers and 
models than ever before.

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And when they come to us

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and they learn from Tyson

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and they learn from 
Chelsea and they

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they learn from me,

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they learn that it's 
okay to be Indigenous now.

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You don't have to be ashamed 
or afraid of it anymore.

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Growing up, I was not allowed

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to say that I was 
Indigenous.

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The one and only time in my life 
my grandmother hit me

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was because I went to learn 
how to powwow dance.

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You had to hide?

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We had to hide.

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And we don't have to anymore.

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I'll do a warrior call.

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Yes.

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So,

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It's loud.

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That's so powerful.

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We also do smudging like,

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Tyson will 
facilitate a fudge,

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not a fudge,

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before all of our shows. 
- What's smudging?

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It's, a way for, 
- To cleanse.

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us to cleanse and to 
ground ourselves

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before we go out there and,

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and present clothing to 
people who are non-indigenous.

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We stink to spirit because 
all that lotions and

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perfumes and stuff

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we put on.

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Yeah.

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What smudging does 
is it allows our,

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our ancestors and our,

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our guides and angels to come

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sit with us 
because we stink to them.

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You know?

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Yes.

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So, okay, well now 
they smell like plants and herbs

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and well come sit and 
talk to them.

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You guys share so much,

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and when you come to 
DC or to Mexico,

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if I'm there, I will 
share so much, too.

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That will be fabulous.

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We can set up a fashion 
show.

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Exactly.

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Let's do it.

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And you're going to 
model for us.

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I don't know if I'm a good model 
but I can pretend.

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Exactly.

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I'm still doing that.

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I still get criticized 
for walking like a duck.

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That could be your 
signature walk.

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Embrace it.