Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
Is it better to give or receive for the holidays? We say both.
Indian Country is a big place and it’s always fun — and supportive — to shop at holiday craft markets where you live. But it’s a good season to expand your gift-giving horizons and find unusual items from other parts of this great big Turtle Island.
We’ve rounded up gift items available coast to coast, online and in stores, some from tribes, some from individual artists. There are blankets, teepee handbags, ‘Dark Winds’ clothing, tribal wines, bison bars, books, and sage bundles.
So, this holiday season, whatever you and your tribe celebrate, buy Native and support small business. That’s a gift that keeps on giving year-round.
Here is a broad guide to some of the best gifts in Indian Country, available in person, online, or both.
Books and more
There have been a slew of wonderful Native books out in recent years, so much so that there are entire bookstores and book clubs that sell them and are Native-owned. ICT writes about books year-round, so here is a roundup of some of the stores that sell the books, host authors, and offer books available online as well.
Birchbark Books, owned and operated by Louise Erdrich, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa author of 28 books and winner of the National Book Award, is a unique specialized store in Minneapolis.
On the store’s website, Erdrich says the store is “a locus for Indigirati — literate Indigenous people who have survived over half a millennium on this continent. We sponsor readings by Native and non-Native writers, journalists, historians, and our staff is of either Native background, or exceedingly Native-friendly!”
Beyond having the best in new Native books, they sell quillwork, traditional basketry, silverwork, unusual dreamcatchers, and Indigenous paintings. They deal directly with local, regional, and southwestern artisans, and can also handle special orders.
On a recent trip for the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums conference, ICT discovered a gem of a bookstore in downtown Cherokee, North Carolina. The Talking Leaves Bookstore features more than 1,500 titles by Indigenous authors and on Indigenous subjects for young readers, history enthusiasts, fiction lovers, artists, outdoor enthusiasts, or visitors exploring the Great Smoky Mountains, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee.
In California, the Cree-owned Native Spirit Lodge carries books on history, ceremonies, biographies and much more.
And north of the border in Canada, Medicine Wheel Publishing creates award-winning and culturally authentic Indigenous books, and provides resources for moral and cultural education. They have books in thousands of locations across Canada and the United States. In all of their books, each word and image has the approval of the Indigenous storytellers and elders who are connected to the story.
A great organization worth supporting is NDN Girls Book Club, a literary nonprofit that hosts free community workshops for Native people, especially Native youth and girls, in poetry, zine-making, editing, fiction, nonfiction, and Native literature. They aim to make accessibility to quality Indigenous literature a reality for all ages by sending out free books and literary care packages. The shirts, pins and other merch on their site support the mission.
Skincare from the Earth
Body lotion, facial skincare, oils and serums are luxurious gifts to use every day. Some of the top brands in Indian Country can be found at fairs, online, and in stores.
Bison Star Naturals has a store in Taos, New Mexico, run and hand-crafted by husband-and-wife team, Angelo McHorse, Taos Pueblo, and his wife, Jacquelene. They can also be found in the Albuquerque Airport, major museums, four-star hotels and farmers markets. They create small-batch lotions with the scents of sage-pine. The lavender lotion has a lush floral scent with no cloying sweetness. The cedar lotion sounds unusual, but with one whiff, the warm, earthy aroma wins you over. Bison Star Naturals are made from wild-harvested herbs and flowers without animal products, dyes or perfumes.
N8iV Beauty has been making the industry nuts with its tribal land-sourced acorn oil-based skincare line aimed at a high-end market. The gamble paid off as they have been featured in mainstream publications and recently won a Best of Beauty Award from Allure magazine.
N8iV Beauty is developed from ancestral knowledge that has been passed down from generations through plant relatives. Developed and owned by Ruth-Ann Thorn, the line features day and night creams, serums, a unique, cactus green-tinted sunscreen. The line is sold through the website and at the Native Star Boutique in San Diego, the only Native-owned business in the historic Gaslamp District.
Brenda’s Botanicals is another Taos-based line using pinon, ylang-ylang (cananga tree), lavender, cedarwood, and tea tree essential oils as the base. We love their body oil and lip balm, both deeply soothing and hydrating. Affordable gift sets make great unisex presents for others or for yourself.
Savory and sweet
History says in 1782, the first wine in California was produced at Mission San Juan Capistrano. This maiden vintage was planted, harvested, and fermented by the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians. Native Hands Wine pays homage to each Mission tribe by offering a line of classically hand-crafted wines, each with a unique story that reflects a time, place, or ceremony honoring ancestors and celebrating the rich traditions of the first winemakers in Alta California. The line includes cabernet sauvignons, rosés, chardonnays and pinot noirs.
Located in Lodi Valley, California, the Twisted Cedar Wine brand is wholly owned by the Cedar Band of Paiute Indians, one of five constituent Bands of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. Their top wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Pinot Grigio, Petite Sirah-Petit Verdot, and Moscato.
“The Cedar Band of Paiutes people are ever conscious of our relationship with the earth and are proud of our sustainably grown and farmed Twisted Cedar wines,” Laurel Yellowhorse, board of directors of the Cedar Band Corporation says on the website. “Twisted Cedar wines produce a tremendous benefit to the Band’s community, by providing employment opportunities and socioeconomic programs on the reservation. Twisted Cedar wines truly are a tribute to a proud people, the Cedar Band of Paiutes.”
The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation reservation in northern California is near the famed lush countryside wineries in the Napa Valley. But tribal leaders have turned to a different kind of agriculture.
The tribe has cultivated a thriving enterprise, Séka Hills Olive Mill & Tasting Room, by growing olives and making award-winning extra virgin olive oil in a 14,000-square-foot mill facility. Séka means “blue” in the Patwin language, creating a name that honors the Blue Hills along the west side of the Capay Valley. The mill offers tours for the public, a large tasting room to sample the varieties and flavors, and a range of products available online or at the shop in the Brooks, California, facility. Oils, vinegars, nuts, and honey are some of the top products.
A wide range of food offerings — including Indian corn, wild rice, salmon, beans and honey — are available from Sweetgrass Trading Company, a subsidiary of the Ho-Chunk Trading Group run by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Also offered are Bisonberry Pemmican bars that feature a blend of bison and 100 percent grass-fed beef, with berries, mineral-rich sea salt, and maple sap-water, and Blueberry Sweetgrass hot sauce. Another welcome gift is sage and braided sweetgrass bundles, all available online.
Head to Nawapo for a range of items from a number of tribal sources, including Sakari Farms Lavender Bath Salts, Narrows Crafts Antler earrings, Wild Chokecherry Jelly, herbal teas and other off-the-beaten path items.
Tocabe, the Native eatery in Denver and in the Denver Airport, sells their food stuffs, including hot sauce and corn meals, online. They also sell gift cards for frequent travelers. We stopped by twice in the past few months for a bison protein bowl and yogurt with delicious wojapi sauce as we connected flights. Bison at 30,000 feet? Yes!
Stylish gifts
Founded by DY Begay and Tom Tarica, HOSH merges Native American art with fashion on shirts, hoodies, hats and more, creating wearable art that blends heritage and modern style. Through collaborations with artists across painting, weaving, silversmithing, and pottery, HOSH – which draws its name from the Diné word for cactus – has been holding live events that merge art and fashion in New York City and Santa Fe.
In a very cool mashup, a collaboration between Thunder Voice Hat Co and AMC-Dark Winds dropped in late October. The company worked with series’ actors Kiowa Gordon and Gene Braverock, who model in the ads for the shirts, hats and scarves.
“They say some things aren’t simply made, they’re called into being,” Braverock says. “This hat, freshly born in the salt-kissed air of Long Beach, California, carries such a story. Crafted by the skilled hands at @thundervoiceco, it’s more than felt and form; it’s a whisper from the horizon, a shape pulled from storm clouds and sunshine alike. Some say it was gifted to me by the Voice of Thunder himself, a rumor I neither confirm nor deny.”
He continues, “I only know it arrived as if the sky cleared its throat and said, “Here, you’ll need this for the road ahead.’ It smells faintly of desert rain, holds a hint of ocean wind, and sits on my head like it’s known the weight of my thoughts all along. Every hat has a history. This one just happens to speak in Thunder.”
We love the BT Luxe bags and their 2nd Series Tribute Collection. Each teepee bag is crafted from premium cowhide, deer or goat leather. Sturdy and luxurious, they are uniquely adorned with premium hardware so that no two bags are exactly alike.
The Teepee Handbag has the exclusive BThunder Luxe X Teepee Logo embossed on both the front and back, a bold statement in style and craftsmanship. They add the BThunder feather trademark logo, and a personalized, unique handbag charm. New to this collection, each handbag is enhanced with leather tassel pulls.
For one-stop shopping for men and women, Sky Eagle Collection has bomber jackets, bathing suits, dresses, ties, track suits, jewelry and even coffee. They also have a showroom in Taos, New Mexico. Osage designer Dante Biss Grayson has been in overdrive lately with not only releasing new designs and art every few months, but also founding the International Indigenous Fashion Council, a group aimed at bringing indigenous fashion around the world as well as advocating for fair pay, sustainable production and cultural sovereignty.
Native retail boutiques, meanwhile, are growing in numbers and are great ways to discover new Native fashion and accessories. San Diego has the Native Star Boutique, with styles from top designers Patricia Michaels and star jeweler Cody Sanderson.
Up in Highland, California, the Yaamava Resort & Casino’s 1891 Boutique carries Indigenous clothing, hats, jewelry and more inside the glam resort.The resort is owned by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, now known as the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation. There are multiple shopping options, including retail stores, which offer high-end fashion, accessories, and tribe-branded gift items at the Puuhia’t Roadrunner Gift Shop. Some tribal-related merchandise is also available through the Yaamava At Home online store with clothing from Thunder Voice Hat Co. and jewelry from Aaron Rock.
New York City has Relative Arts for trendy urban Natives to buy bomber jackets, jewelry, stickers and clothing with a decidedly young appeal.
Exquisite designs in woolen blankets are the trademark of Eighth Generation, which proudly describes itself on its website as a Seattle based art and lifestyle brand owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe.
“We partner with Native artists around the country to design, manufacture and market beautiful wool blankets and gifts intended for everyone,” the website states. “In doing so, we are boldly reclaiming control over the market for products featuring Native art and the stories that go with them.”
Gift shops coast- to-coast
At the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs, California, the retail store carries accessories, wines, oils, and jewelry from a changing lineup of Native designers. They often do popups such as a recent one with Thunder Voice Hat Co.
Down in South Florida, the Seminole have gift shops at the Ah Tah Thi Ki Museum out in the Everglades with beaded jewelry, books and hats, while the Miccosukee sell gator heads and handmade rickrack clothing at the Miccosukee Village.
We were thrilled with the upscale selection of items at the gift shop in the Museum of the Cherokee People in Cherokee, North Carolina, which sells blankets, fine jewelry, and clothing with their newly designed water spider logo.