Atlohsa Family Healing, in partnership with the London InterCommunity Health Centre are excited to announce the opening of their Ribbon Skirt Library. The Library will provide access to cultural attire for women who need it with the aim of adding ribbon shirts for men as well as teaching workshops to assist individuals to make their own in the future.
These skirts and shirts are worn in court, funerals, graduations, births, in celebration, in protest, when picking plants as medicines, and in many other ways. For our shared clients, access to fabrics, a sewing machine, knowledge of sewing, and the ability to wash and maintain these items can be out of reach. For some urban Indigenous people, the lack of access to skirts or shirts means some ceremonies can not be attended. In coordination with the Cultural Justice Program at Atlohsa Family Healing, the Health Centre can offer our Indigenous clients these essential items, supporting clients in connections with their culture and belonging.
Ribbons skirts and ribbon shirts grew in popularity in this area Nayanno-nibiimaang Gichigamiin (The Great Lakes) in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) in the late 1800’s. In a combination of story telling focusing on the survival of Indigenous people and a change in the access to goods from the settler populations, ribbons were sewn into cultural items with spiritual and historical significance between the seams. In today’s Indigenous communities ribbon shirts and ribbon skirts are worn as a symbol of empowerment and resistance and are often worn in ceremony.
For more information about the Library, please contact a member of the Indigenous Strategy Committee for more information.
If you are interested in learning more about Ribbon Skirts and their significance, Tala Tootoosis (Sturgeon Lake First Nation, Saskatchewan) presents a Ted Talk.