Pauly Denetclaw
ICT
I started my journalism career at the Navajo Times where I lived and breathed, arts and culture reporting. I went to holiday markets, bazaars, craft shows, flea markets, art markets and more. All across the southwest. I interviewed everyone from Steven Paul Judd to Deonoveigh Mitchell more well-known as K'aalogii Kisses, and award-winning silversmith Neeko Garcia.
I also interviewed and highlighted the work from local artisans with no website, social media, and cash only. The only way to find them was by going to their regular spot at the Gallup Flea Market, or asking where they’ll be selling next.
There is incredible talent, and a strong entrepreneurial spirit in Indigenous communities. We often grow up being taught a skill, one that was passed down generation after generation.
So, it was exciting for me to be asked every holiday season to curate a list of Indigenous-owned businesses. I’m excited to once again highlight some of my personal favorites.
In no particular order, here are the five Indigenous-owned businesses I’m loving this year.
Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise
This tribally-owned enterprise was founded in 1941 by the Navajo Nation government. It’s the oldest of the tribe’s enterprises and sells everything from hand-weaved churro wool rugs to kingman turquoise squash blossoms and leather moccasins. There are four storefront locations in Window Rock, Arizona; Chinle, Arizona; Kayenta, Arizona; and Shiprock, New Mexico.
I’ve bought several pairs of moccasins, turquoise rings and earrings from here. My mother also bought the squash blossom set she gifted me from Navajo Arts and Crafts. This is a great place to buy gifts because they stock a variety of items. They also tend to run great sales throughout the year.
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Trickster Company
In 2014, the sibling duo Crystal and Rico Worl, both Tlingit and Athabaskan, founded the company in Juneau, Alaska. The design shop sells apparel, jewelry, fine art, books, stickers, games, home goods, and sporting goods.
I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when I bought my first item made by Trickster Company. It was a baby Yoda sticker created in their signature Northwest Coast art style.
I have such a deep appreciation for this art style because it’s so different from what I grew up surrounded by. As a southwest girlie, it’s so amazing to see artwork that features killer whales, herring, and shrimp.
This stone lithograph that features a red shrimp with her eggs is one of my favorites on their website. The piece is titled, “S’éex’át.”
B.YELLOWTAIL
Bethany Yellowtail, Northern Cheyenne and Apsáalooke, is the founder and owner of B.YELLOWTAIL. It is a fashion and lifestyle brand. The brand sells accessories, apparel, dresses, home goods, jewelry, scarves, and textiles and notions.
My best friend and I were at a powwow when we made the spontaneous decision to buy matching B.YELLOWTAIL dresses. She bought a pink dress and I bought red. We wore them a few months later to the White House Spring Garden Tour. It was such a great experience to be two Navajo women from New Mexico in Washington, D.C., wearing a dress designed by an Indigenous woman.
This is an aside but I wear a size 16 or 18. Oftentimes, Indigenous-owned clothing brands don’t offer dresses in my size. So, it makes it extra sweet that I’m able to purchase dresses from this brand and know they will have a size that will fit me.
I absolutely adore this little apron made for kids. I imagine talented little chefs from our communities making wild rice or mutton stew in them.
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Cheekbone Beauty
Jenn Harper created Cheekbone Beauty, a cosmetic brand, in 2015. All her beauty products are made sustainably, vegan and cruelty-free. Her brand hopes to carve a space in the beauty industry so that Indigenous people can see themselves represented.
The online beauty community rose to prominence in the 2010s. Beauty influencers offered makeup tutorials and reviews online. I was part of the wave of women and girls who learned how to apply makeup through YouTube video tutorials. I consumed hundreds of hours of content over the years, about the best products to buy, the newest techniques, and most sought after tools.
What I didn’t see was someone who looked like me, had the same eye shape, or high cheekbones. When I discovered Cheekbone Beauty in 2017 I remember screaming with glee. Makeup isn’t just a product to me. It’s an artform, a way to express myself, and a small portion of the day where I’m in the moment and not in my head.
The first product I bought from Cheekbone Beauty was a liquid lipstick called Bethany, named after Bethany Yellowtail.
It’s definitely because I’m Navajo… but I’ve been eyeing a Sustain vegan lipstick in Kéyah for months. Kéyah means land in Diné bizaad, Navajo language.
Nízhoní Soaps
In 2019, I was the first reporter to do a story on Kamia Begay, the young owner and founder of Nízhoní Soaps. At the time, she was just 11-years-old. Begay and her family run the small business.
Today, she is a high schooler with two storefronts located in Farmington and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her body and bath products intertwine local teas, herbs and cedar. My personal favorite is Rez Dirt. Begay was able to capture the smell of rainwater on dry, cracked desert clay with middle notes of rabbitbrush and sagebrush.
All of her products are handmade with real herbs.
Nízhoní Soaps sells a variety of products including soaps, body butters, lip scrubs, wax melts, sugar scrubs, and essential oils.
The Organic Navajo Tea Sugar Scrub is such an interesting and unique product that I would definitely want for myself.
These are just five from a list of dozens of businesses that ICT has compiled. Below are the rest for your holiday shopping.
Marketplaces
Alaska Native Heritage Center's 12 Days of Christmas 一 Skincare, jewelry, chimes, artwork
Beyond Buckskin 一 Jewelry, blankets, apparel
Collective49 一 Apparel, accessories, artwork, home goods
Eighth Generation 一 Jewelry, textiles, apparel
From The People 一 Jewelry, art, apparel
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Store 一 Pueblo jewelry, pottery, books, baskets
Native Northwest 一 Home decor, apparel, stationery
Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise 一 Navajo jewelry, textiles, apparel
Planet Alaska 一 Traditional medicinals, art, apparel, jewelry, sculptures, carvings
Red Cloud Indian School: The Heritage Center 一 Beadwork, quillwork, star quilts
Sacred Circle Gallery & Gift Shop 一 Toys, mugs, bags, apparel, ornaments
Santa Fe Indian Market Virtual Market 一 Jewelry, basketry, visual arts, textiles
Sealaska Heritage Store 一 Alaska & NW Native jewelry, apparel, art, stickers, books
Trickster Co. 一 Leggings, masks, tees, books, decorated sports gear, art, stationery
Woodland Indian Art Inc. 一 Basketry, beadwork, jewelry, art
Donzia Gift Shop 一 Shoshone-Bannock beadwork, a complete line of moccasins, purses, bolo ties, medallions, belt buckles, credit card holders, wallets, and hat bands
10 Buffalos Art 一 Handmade art, wood carvings
Ginew — Outerwear, outdoor apparel, and accessories
NEO — Streetwear, athletic wear, and accessories
Sakari Farms — Tribal pantry goods, bath and body products, teas, hot sauce, jams, seasonings and plant medicine
Ice Queen — Vegan paletas and soft serve ice cream. Available in Portland and Salem, Oregon; and Seattle and Olympia, Washington
Coral Story Beauty — Organic makeup and skin care, green beauty products
Sweetgrass Reign — Art, candles, beadwork sold at various vendor markets around Tulsa, Oklahoma
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center — Mugs, pottery, jewelry
Jewelry
Mudd Lowery — Western wear, apparel, and turquoise jewelry. Mudd is a jeweler to country singers like Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson. He does weekly jewelry drops announced on his Facebook and Instagram
ByNeeko — Contemporary silver and turquoise jewelry by award-winning silversmith Neeko Garcia
Art
Karma Henry — Contemporary and unique landscape paintings on canvas
Steven Paul Judd — Art prints
Kaalogii Kisses — Heartwork by mixed media artist Deonoveigh Mitchell that is inspired by her life and childhood memories on the Navajo rez
Apparel
B. Yellowtail 一 Apparel, accessories
Beyond Buckskin 一 Jewelry, blankets, apparel
Can’t Fail Designs 一 Printed tees for kids, juniors, adults
Eighth Generation 一 Jewelry, textiles, apparel
Kotah Bear 一 Jewelry, blankets
Kūlua Maui 一 Sustainably made women’s apparel, home goods
Manitobah Mukluks 一 Moccasins, boots, gloves
Native Action Network 一 Shirts, bags
OXDX 一 Graphic art, screen printed apparel
The 'IWA Company 一 Women's activewear brand
The Keiki Dept 一 Children’s apparel, accessories
The NTVS (The Natives) 一 Screen printed apparel, accessories, stocking stuffers
Thunder Voice Hat Co. 一 Hats, masks, apparel, artwork
Hazen Metal & Ink 一 Jewelry, pen and ink prints
Reclaim Designz — Star Wars apparel, cups, stickers, prints
Salish Style 一 Clothing
10 Buffalos Art 一 Handmade art, wood carvings
Saani Up — Toddlers & infant, youth and adult t-shirts, stickers, backpack
Urban Native Era — ”You’re on Native Land” apparel, beanies, socks
Shy Natives — Apparel, handmade lingerie, earrings (if they have a pop-up near you)
Beauty
ArXotica: Home 一 Arctic botanical skincare products
Blended Girl Cosmetics 一 Eyeliner and makeup brushes
Cheekbone Beauty 一 Face, lip gloss, lipstick
Indigenous Cosmetics 一 Makeup and beauty brand
Prados Beauty 一 Eyeshadow, brushes, lashes
Sister Sky - Body and hair products
Health and wellness
Kealia Organics 一 Soap, lotion, hair care
Mahina Made 一 Home, stationery, apparel
Nizhóní Soap — Soaps, body scrub, wax melts
Sequoia Soaps — Soaps, body care, candles
Sḵwálwen 一 Botanical skin care products
The Yukon Soaps Company 一 Soaps, oils, hair care
Niawen — Skincare, makeup and body care products
Food
Tocabe Indigenous Marketplace — Indigenous ingredients and ready-made meals
North American Traditional Food Systems (NATIFS)’s Indigenous Food Lab Market — Food products, books and games, body care, housewares, clothing
Séka Hills — Olive oil, wine, vinegar, nuts, gift boxes
Owanmi — gift cards, books
Navajo Mike’s — Hot sauces, barbeque sauces, Navajo tea, and frybread mix
The Modern Navajo Kitchen: Homestyle Recipes that Celebrate the Flavors and Traditions of the Diné — A cookbook by social media influencer Alana Yazzie filled with Navajo food recipes
The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen — A cookbook by award-winning chef Sean Sherman that features Indigenous foods from the Dakotas and Great Lakes region
Spirit Bear Coffee Company — coffee, mugs, apparel, coffee accessories
Aesthete Tea — Herbal blends and loose leaf teas
Ekowah Coffee — Ethically sourced, environmentally friendly, organic coffee beans and k-cups
Films / Books / Media
Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese — a powerful and compelling collection of Tiffany Midge's musings on life, politics, and identity as a Native woman in America. Blending sly humor, social commentary, and meditations on love and loss
Birchbark Books — Bookstore owned by author Louise Erdrich in Minneapolis, Minnesota
NDN Girls Bookclub — Apparel and accessories
Books & Burrow — Indigenous owned bookstore in Pittsburg, Kansas
The Kings English Bookshop - Indigenous owned bookstore in Salt Lake City, Utah
ATCG Books and Comics — Online comic bookshop
Vision Maker Media films 一 Films, shows and documentaries by Native producers
Good Minds 一 Books by First Nations, Métis and Inuit authors
Native Books 一 Books by or about Native Hawaiian culture and history
A Council of Doll — A fictional book by Standing Rock Lakota citizen Mona Susan Power. (featured on the New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023)
The Rediscovery of America — A nonfiction book by Ned Blackhawk, a citizen of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada. (also featured on the New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023)
Stealing — An historical fiction book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Margaret Verble, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath — A fantasy book by Moniquill Blackgoose, a citizen of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction anthology — edited by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., citizen of the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, and Shane Hawk, citizen of the Cheyenne-Arapaho, Hidatsa and Potawatomi descent
Blood Sisters — A suspense and thriller book by Cherokee Nation citizen Vanessa Lillie
The Truth According to Ember — A romance novel featuring two Indigenous leads by Danica Nava
The Sky Was Once A Dark Blanket — Navajo Poet Kinsale Drake’s first published collection
The Berry Pickers — A fictional work about a Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia and their search for a missing child by Amanda Peters
I Was A Teenage Slasher — New York Times Bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones’ latest horror novel about a teenager in a small, rural, Texas town
Warrior Girl Unearthed — A second book set in the same community as Firekeeper’s Daughter by author Angeline Boulley
The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles — Indigenous naturopathic doctor Nicole Redvers pairs evidence-based research with traditional healing modalities, addressing modern health problems and medical processes
Whiskey Tender: A Memoir — A memoir by Institute of American Indian Art program director Deborah Jackson Taffa. It traces how a mixed tribe Native girl—born on the California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico—comes to her own interpretation of identity
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