Indigenous woman ‘beyond excited’ to showcase designs on international stage

Indigenous designer Tammy Wolfe is ready to showcase her work on the international stage. (CTV News)

WINNIPEG — An Indigenous designer is ready to showcase her work on the international stage.

Tammy Wolfe, who is originally from Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, is heading to Tokyo Fashion week in Japan this June.

“I’m beyond excited,” she said. “It’s a little surreal.”

Wolfe has been doing beadwork since she was eight years old and is self-taught.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have any teachers growing up,” she said. “There was no YouTube, there was no TikTok.”

“I have a love for beadwork, and I just continue to practice my craft,” she added.

Today, her work extends beyond artistry.

Wolfe is also a social justice advocate focused on Truth and Reconciliation and the 94 Calls to Action shared by the Commission in 2015. As a PhD researcher, she explores beadwork as both medicine and a pathway to healing.

Her designs, which include dresses and beaded earrings, often tell deeply personal stories.

Through her Winnipeg-based brand, Red Hummingbird Designs, Wolfe highlights the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+).

“I’ve been quite inspired by that,” she said. “I try to do things that not only tell a story for social justice advocacy, but also for who we are as Indigenous people.”

A personal connection

Tammy Wolfe’s mom Holly Wolfe Sinclair was murdered when she was just 37 years old. The lack of justice in her mother’s case has left lasting grief for her family.

“That has significantly impacted my life, my family’s life, my daughter’s life, not knowing her grandma,” she said.

Wolfe channels her grief into her design work, creating pieces that keep her mother’s memory alive. She designed a red dress for her mom called “Remembering Our Loved Ones.”

“People need to hear these stories,” she said. “I think it’s really important that we continue to talk about them.”

“The problem is still continuing to happen and so I hope that maybe someone will see my art and will be inspired to take action,” she added.

Her designs have been featured in festivals and fashion events throughout the country, including the 25th anniversary of the Manito Ahbee Festival in Winnipeg, as well as in Saskatchewan Fashion Week.

Wolfe uses a lot of different materials in her pieces that represent Indigenous Peoples, including the use of fox fur and birch bark. This is the first time her work will be showcased on the international stage.

“It’s pretty significant,” she said. “It’s a little bit nerve-racking, as well, and have a little bit of anxiety about just going to one of the world’s fashion capitals.”

Important opportunity

Chantal Fiola has followed Wolfe’s work for a number of years and is inspired by the designs she produces. Fiola says sharing Indigenous art on a global stage is extremely important.

“To be given an opportunity to travel on an international stage and bring these really crucial topics and initiatives to light on the international stage cannot be understated,” Fiola, who is the associate vice-president of Indigenous engagement at the University of Winnipeg, told CTV News.

Fiola hopes Wolfe is the first of many Indigenous designers and artists who can make connections and share their work around the world.

Promote, expand Indigenous artistry

Wolfe won’t be travelling alone to Tokyo in June.

She’s bringing an all-Indigenous team of models from Canada and the United States, ensuring the opportunity also elevates other Indigenous talent.

She hopes her work not only inspires other designers and artists to achieve their dreams, but says her artwork is a way to ensure her mother, Holly, is never forgotten.

“Her story needs to be told. She needs to be remembered and because there is no justice for her and her murder, I think that’s what continues to inspire me to do this work,” she said.

“Anything that we do as Indigenous people, it is collectively our stories and who we are. We are so much more than our stories. Our art is beautiful; it’s who we are.”