Indigenous store in Winnipeg goes beyond retail, fosters cultural education and advocacy
Employees at Teekca's Aboriginal Boutique in The Forks Market focus on educating travellers and visitors about cultural appreciation, creating a safe and educational space for all.
Crystal polar bears hanging from strings, ceramic mugs detailed with Indigenous drawings, and a wall of traditional medicines are just some fixtures to admire when entering this small Indigenous shop. With so many things, where do you begin?
"The earrings are my favourite. We're always getting the newest trends," Teekca's Aboriginal Boutique employee Molly Menow said.
Walking around the store, she stops to pick up a pair of moccasins and explains each detail, down to the beading technique, the raw animal materials used, and the colour choices.
“The colours aren’t at random… We’re born with colour, for different stages of our life we get different colours and we put those in our clothing,” Menow said.
She’s been working at the boutique since 2011 and can answer just about any question about the shop or the items within it. Menow acknowledges that it's the responsibility of non-Indigenous people to educate themselves about their culture but is very open to everyone’s curiosities.
“I welcome all questions, it’s the only way we learn,” Menow said. Most people ask about products respectfully, but she said they sometimes have to deal with rude comments.
“We do get a few slurs in the shop,” Menow said. Someone once asked her where they kept the “squaw hats,” and she calmly explained to the customer the word was not appropriate.
“It actually means dirty,” Menow said. She said she wasn’t necessarily offended by the customer’s ignorance and felt comfortable stepping in to explain the harmful meaning behind the word.
Despite this off-putting memory, Menow said most of their customers are respectful and enjoy learning about local products and artists.
The boutique carries Indigenous creations from all over Canada. Over four million people visit the Forks each year from all over the world, which gives these artists a chance to sell their products to a global audience. The other Winnipeg location is east, near Polo Park.
Another employee named Jaden Scott said, “I’m very grateful when [tourists] are receptive and they’re willing to learn about issues Indigenous people have faced in Canada.”
Scott joined the team at Teekca’s through a program called Level Up which is run by the Resource Assistance for Youth. The job is giving her the opportunity for a paid job experience in a place that aligns with her values.
“They ended up hiring me, which I was very grateful for,” Scott said.
Scott said she’s learned more about her Indigenous culture since she started working there in June. The staff that have more experience spend time teaching newer employees about traditional beading, proper jewellery care, and how moccasins are made.
Scott said she loves learning more about her culture through her work. “As an Indigenous person, it makes me very happy,” she said.
Apart from being a retail store and source for educational conversation, Teekca's also teaches workshops on activities such as mukluk crafting, beadwork, dreamcatcher making, and soapstone carving.
