By Angela Serednicki
Decorating your interior with meaningful pieces is one of the best ways to create a home that reflects your personality and values. Instead of shopping at a big box store, consider supporting small businesses to help your space stand out.
From linens to candles and art, here are some of the best Canadian Indigenous-owned home decor brands to shop for now.
Onquanta
Onquanta is a family-owned business that creates gorgeous hand-painted paddles with colours and patterns inspired by First Nations culture. Lara Siouï and her mother, Lise, both Wendat, began crafting these functional pieces of art as a tribute to their ancestors who once used them to travel and connect with other nations across lakes and rivers. Their website states, “Paddles are a vehicle that transcends eras and fashion trends, adapting naturally to all types of decor and thus ensuring an ancestral presence in different places.”
Yukon Soaps
This Indigenous-owned brand invites you to discover the Yukon boreal forest’s essence through products like handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars and essential oil blends. Yukon Soaps combines Indigenous plant wisdom and uses local ingredients such as wild rose petals, fireweed, and sage. Founder Joella Hogan emphasizes the importance of involving her community with her business, including gathering wild botanicals on the land, providing employment opportunities for youth, conducting soap workshops, and participating in local markets throughout the territory. All products are free from chemicals, parabens, artificial fragrances or colours.
Indigo Arrows
Destiny Seymour, a Winnipeg-based interior designer, incorporates the stunning patterns from her Anishinaabe heritage into everyday household items. Drawing from the traditional patterns once used in her First Nation’s historic pottery and bone tools, Indigo Arrows adorns pillows, quilts, blankets, table runners, and linen napkins with these meaningful designs.
Hudson and Oak
Hudson and Oak is a modern home goods brand created by Sarah Henderson, who is of Cree heritage. This Indigenous-owned brand sells stylish planters, glassware, cutting boards, and dinnerware, combining functionality with a modern aesthetic. Whether you’re shopping online or in their flagship store in Langley, British Columbia, it’s a great place to find housewarming and wedding gifts.
MINI TIPI
If you’re looking to stock up on new blankets or throws for fall, look no further than MINI TIPI. Each luxurious blanket is crafted from a blend of acrylic and wool, ensuring added warmth and thickness and is finished with elegant yarn trim for that extra touch of detail. In addition to blankets, MINI TIPPI also offers collections of mittens, shawls, ponchos and bags. Giving back to the community is a top priority for the brand through donations to local food banks and Indigenous women crisis centres and providing products to those in need. All products are designed, cut, and sewn in Quebec.
Land of Daughters
Land of Daughters is known for its unique home fragrances, setting it apart in the industry. This Métis-owned brand, headquartered in Calgary, is known for its coconut soy wax candles, essential oils and aroma sprays. The Homebody candle is one of their bestselling products made with sweet notes of bergamot, lemon and musk. Land of Daughters is working on expanding its product line by taking inspiration from Indigenous plants and their fragrances.
