By Kathy Gallant

Workshop empowers young Waterhen FN women

Aug 30, 2018 | 4:36 PM

A workshop on Waterhen Lake First Nation this week taught a group of young girls about fashion, hair, modeling and makeup, but it also taught them about themselves.

The two-day program was facilitated by Waterhen-born Devon Fiddler, owner of SheNative Goods, along with jewelry designer Helen Oro, and photographer Alexandra Jarrett as well as colleagues. The entrepreneurs and Indigenous women leaders led a group of young teenage girls in a variety of icebreakers, tutorials, hands-on design, meditation and confidence building.

This is the first time Fiddler brought this workshop to her home reserve, and she, along with the rest of her team, have run five others in different locations across the province. Each person was brought on for their knowledge and expertise, and past experience. Oro, for example, worked on fashion shows across the globe. 

“We really built a program where we can help the girls build confidence,” Fiddler said. “We also shared our own stories to help build hope about where they can go, so they can see the different opportunities there are. We talked about entrepreneurship, the business of fashion, what it’s like to start a brand.”

As much as it was about giving tips about future career plans, the workshop also focused on positive self-esteem building, and also included several cultural elements, such as smudging – burning sacred herbs for spiritual cleansing.

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“We’ve also built in sharing circles,” Fiddler said. “We talked about challenges and how we overcame them, our fears, jealousy and how to turn that into a positive. We felt that deep inner work needs to happened, and this is the first time we’ve done this element. I wish I had these types of tools when I was young. I’m still working on things, and it’s important to open up and share.”

A few of the girls who participated really loved the hair and makeup, like Sadie Roundsky, Gracelynn Thundervoice and Halle Martell.

Autumn Blackbird said she was happy to attend to boost up her confidence and make friends with everyone. Madison Bouvier said it was a lot of fun, and she might be interested in entrepreneurship in the future. She liked that the fashion wasn’t focused on only one body type and size.

Alexis Fiddler said she loved how everything went back to creating bonds with others.

“My favourite part was connecting with everyone and hearing what they had to say,” Alexis said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Tyra Fiddler said it’s a good opportunity for young women, and liked that it was in her home community of Waterhen.

The two-day event will cap off with a fashion show tonight.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath