Native-owned Eighth Generation launches first global ‘Decolonizing Partnership’ with coffee brand Starbucks

News Release

Eighth Generation

Eighth Generation, owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe, just launched a “Community Capsule” collection with Seattle’s Starbucks Reserve Roastery. The limited edition collection with Starbucks represents the first global corporation to work with Eighth Generation under their Decolonizing Partnerships Model. The model, pioneered by Eighth Generation and guided by five core principles, seeks to disrupt exploitative business practices that have been carried forward from times of extreme power imbalance.

“Starbucks represents the first global business to join us in a Decolonizing Partnership,” said Eighth Generation Founder and CEO Louie Gong (Nooksack). “Meeting these progressive standards required Starbucks to flex or change fundamental components of their processes for product development, sourcing, and distribution.” Established brands that approach cultural artists or arts entrepreneurs with Eighth Generation’s Decolonizing Partnership Model in mind are exhibiting a desire to support, not exploit, cultural artists.

The Community Capsule, released for the 2021 holiday season, features five products made by Eighth Generation to be sold by both Seattle’s Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Eighth Generation. Eighth Generation is the first non-Starbucks store ever to carry products with the Starbucks Reserve logo. In another first, Eighth Generation produced these products and sold them to Starbucks, flipping the way in which big brands typically work with small businesses. 

The collection includes five products, and features the work of five Coast Salish artists: Louie Gong (Nooksack), Gail White Eagle (Muckleshoot and Chehalis), Andrea Wilbur Sigo (Squaxin Island), Jaime Martin (Snoqualmie), and McKenna Dorman (Snoqualmie). Products include a ceramic tumbler and demi mug set, an embroidered jacket, a hand-embellished print, and a wool throw blanket woven in Eighth Generation’s Seattle studio.

Eighth Generation’s next high-profile Decolonizing Partnership — with Seattle-based running brand Brooks — will launch Fall 2022.

More information on Eighth Generation’s Decolonizing Partnership Model can be found at: https://eighthgeneration.com/pages/decolonizing-partnership-model.

About Eighth Generation

Eighth Generation is a Seattle-based art and lifestyle brand owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe. Founded in 2008, when Louie Gong (Nooksack) — an artist, activist, and educator widely known for merging traditional Coast Salish art with influences from his urban environment to make strong statements about identity — started customizing shoes in his living room. Now the first Native-owned company to ever produce wool blankets — with a flagship retail store in Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market — Eighth Generation is a proud participant in the global economy.

Eighth Generation provides a strong, ethical alternative to “Native-inspired” art and products through its artist-centric approach and 100% Native designed products. Our Inspired Natives™ Project, anchored by the tagline Inspired Natives™, not “Native-inspired,” builds business capacity among cultural artists while addressing the economic impact of cultural appropriation.