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The importance of National Indigenous History Month is highlighted even more so by the recent reminder of the atrocities of residential schools discovered by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. We mourn with all families affected by this discovery and by the tragic, unjust and ongoing impacts of colonialism.
On our path to reconciliation, our team at the BC Marketplace is committed to promoting Indigenous business owners and supporting Indigenous entrepreneurship to build a more inclusive economy. We recognize that historically, Indigenous peoples have been largely excluded from the economy.
We must ensure Indigenous peoples can become full partners in the economy and beneficiaries of wealth and prosperity in their communities. We will look to our Indigenous partners for guidance as we contribute to the recovery of the pain and suffering experienced by Indigenous peoples through colonization. Our path forward is one filled with understanding, awareness and respect for the strength of Indigenous peoples.
In honour of National Indigenous History Month, we’ve commissioned Indigenous artwork that captures the spirit of what it means to be a small business owner. Throughout the month we’ll be sharing these beautiful graphics on the BC Marketplace and within our promotion of Indigenous entrepreneurs.
As it would happen, ferrets are very social animals who live in community groups called businesses! They play together, sleep together and socialize together. And when they get excited, they hop, leap and dance with joy. Any business owner who’s met a milestone or a great success can certainly relate.
Otters are each other’s support systems. They work together as a team to keep each other safe, to hunt and provide. They symbolize teamwork, playfulness, and community. They are also extremely resourceful, using tools like rocks to crack open mussel shells.
In this image the playful and skilled otter has caught the giver of life, the salmon. The salmon supplies the people, animals and the land with food.
Explore Indigenous owned businesses on the BC Marketplace today.
Artist bio:
Chantelle Trainor-Matties is an artist from British Columbia with Nisga’a and Métis heritage who specializes in illustration, graphic design, and painting for her small business Frettchan Studios. Her work ranges from bold formline to charming cartoons to painterly realism. Longhouse Media and Chantelle were happy to partner together to supply the BC Marketplace with some artwork to celebrate National Indigenous History Month. Longhouse Media is one of Canada’s fastest growing Indigenous businesses, specializing in web design, video production, graphic design and marketing. Founder Keenan Beavis was recently awarded the “Young Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year by the BC Achievement Foundation”.
If you’re looking for something funky, vintage or unique, you’ll probably find it at The Argosy.
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We respectfully acknowledge our place of work is within the ancestral, traditional and unceded territories of the Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and that we serve the Peoples of the many Nations throughout British Columbia.