Are you following our Instagram Live series? We are hosting a series of casual fun conversations Thursdays at 11 am around cultural art, special announcements, and exciting work happening. Watch our origin story here, how has Heart Berry changed over the years? Today (June 25, 2020) Hannah and Michelle chatted over coffee about moccasin making, and how this artist wants you to be a maker of moccasins! Next week we will have an exciting interview with photographer Nedahness Greene about the role of photography in Indigenous communities. Watch for that July 2 at 11 am. Photo by Nedahness Greene And Thursday July 9, we are very excited to be having a conversation with Inspired...
Where we live there aren't many businesses. Big dreams are hard to come by. But we are both hardship and unbelievable beauty. Four years ago on a tiny Rez house on a dead end road we waited. We lived next to the amazing Pat and the now deceased Jim Northrup for 10 years. Pat is one of those Aunties. The one who raises everyone's children and would give you the clothes off her back. Pat was a touchstone of our community. Their family had followed the development of Heart Berry from its beginnings as a beadwork hustle. When I began working with the Inspired Natives Project Pat would stay up to date on all my doings. She knew I was waiting...
Seeing our art around? Us too and its absolutely intoxicating. PC Nedahness Greene And right now so much of it seems like no brainers. Of course, there should be the art of the original people greeting visitors as they enter Duluth. But it takes the light shone by our mentors, like Louie Gong, to show us what we aren't seeing in the dark of the hustle. "Louie has made me cry, more times than I would like to admit." Heart Berry CEO, Howes admits "But everytime I listen, he's dead on. And I know that he genuinely is invested in me." Mentors hold us to a high standard because they can see it. So much has changed in such a...
My Grandma was not one of those fun grandmas. At her house we did not make messes or have sleepovers. She was a boarding school survivor, strict catholic, and quite frankly as a kid she scared me. As my grandma grew into her last years though I was a budding geneologist, cultural artist, and loved photos. I loved to ask her about her life, about pictures, and about our shared childhood home on Reservation road. She was not a maker. I never saw her create art of any kind. So why name the moccasin book Nookomis Obagijigan? Kadina was sent to Red Lake Boarding School in 1923. She grew up the child of the nuns who beat her. I don't know...
Ten years ago House of Howes began as a tiny beadwork and regalia business. Armed with the Inspired Natives Project we grew into creating the Legacy gifts you know us for. From our beautiful story wool blankets to Ojibwe floral earrings to our custom art work we have grown beyond our wildest dreams. The "Heart Berry" or Ode'imin in our language has been the driving force behind our design and community work. We are so excited to take the next step in our growth into what we have maybe always been, Heart Berry. Our stories tell us that we are the people of the Heart Way. And just like our ancestors we grow, change, evolve, and circle back to our home. Welcome to...
