5 Indigenous Brands to Watch in 2023
As the new year approaches, it’s always insightful to look back on your consumption habits throughout the past year. Did you support any Indigenous brands? Were you more willing to support a brand who donates proceeds to a charitable cause? Or did you not think twice about which brands received your money?
Regardless of your answers, 2023 offers a clean slate when it comes to which businesses you support. As a Canadian consumer, it’s extremely important to show support to Indigenous brands as it preserves Indigenous culture, strengthens their communities, and contributes to growing local economies.
Here’s our list of 5 Indigenous-owned brands that you’ll definitely want to keep on your radar next year.
1. Cheekbone Beauty
Cheekbone Beauty is an Indigenous-owned cosmetics brand. Based in St. Catharines (Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory), the company has made a name for itself through its sustainable vegan makeup products. Face palettes, lip products, eyeliners, brow gels—you name it, they sell it. The best part? Cheekbone Beauty donates 10% of its profits to Shannen’s Dream, an organization that advocates for First Nations education funding.
Donating more than $150,000 to-date to a wide variety of causes, giving back to their community is the centerpiece of Cheekbone’s mission.
2. Birch Bark Coffee Company
Birch Bark Coffee Company makes enjoying your morning (or afternoon - we don’t judge) coffee all the more exciting. The organic, fair-trade coffee allows you to appease your taste buds, and support Indigenous communities. Founder Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow’s (Ojibwe and Band member of Whitefish River First Nation) mission is to work towards bringing clean drinking water to every Indigenous home suffering from ‘All Water Advisories’ by providing and installing certified water purification systems.
For every 100 bags of coffee sold in retail and every 50 online, Birch Bark donates one water purification system to a family in need.
3. Sisters Sage
Sisters Sage is known for creating natural, handcrafted soaps, salves, and bath bombs. Founded by two sisters on a mission to create products that pay homage to their Indigenous heritage—the company boasts meaningful products worthy of the stories they'll tell. If customers buy the smokeless smudge spray—combining traditional fragrances of sweet grass and tobacco leaf— the sisters are happy to explain the cultural significance of smudging.
With a heritage of Gitxaala, Nisga’a, and Métis Nations, the brand hopes to share a tiny piece of their culture through their various wellness products.
4. Ay Lelum
Ay Lelum creates wearable art garments that embrace diversity. Committed to sharing Traditional Coast Salish art and culture for all to enjoy, the culturally appropriate clothing is designed with non-ceremonial family artwork and is all-inclusive for everyone. And when Ay Lelum says “everyone,” they mean it! The brand offers a range of sizes, with the ready-wear being manufactured ranging from XS-5XL.
Conscious of their environmental footprint, Ay Lelum creates its Coast Salish Couture pieces in a design house on Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, B.C., and works with the finest local British Columbia manufacturers for their ready-wear collections.
5. SECTION 35
Section 35 is an Indigenous-owned streetwear brand based on the Unceded Territories of the Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓íl̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. With the intention to use art and fashion to tell his peoples’ stories, Founder Justin Louis blends the past and the present—finding inspiration in the juxtaposition between these elements.
Section 35’s vision is to create premium products that authentically represents Indigenous art, culture, and fashion.
Showing up for marginalized communities is so much more than wearing an orange shirt one day in September. Commitment to truth and reconciliation means supporting Indigenous communities all year long.
Whether you support one of the five brands we listed, or another one we missed, the art, culture, and integrity of any Indigenous craftsmanship will certainly not disappoint.
Sydney Vardja is a PR Specialist for Jelly Marketing where she works with clients across North America to achieve their campaign dreams.