SIX NATIONS/BRANTFORD – A round of old fashioned craft bazaars swept through the Six Nations and Brantford area to help early shoppers find gifts or gift ideas on Saturday, November 4.
J.C. Hill Elementary School, Six Nations Social Services, the Woodland Cultural Centre and the Mohawk Chapel opened their doors to allow visitors to visit vendors, artisans and seasonal favourites to help both early shoppers and crafters for the coming holiday season.
As entrepreneurship in Canada ranks in second worldwide, entrepreneurship among indigenous people has been viewed as one means of raising economic conditions for these indigenous communities and each crafter is a business owner in their own right.
Tara Froman organized the bazaar that filled the auditorium room in the Woodland Cultural Centre, and she said the event is something she looks forward to.
“It’s great to be able to help [the vendors],” said Froman. “To see what they’re doing and to see how talented they are and thinking — because they are learning from each other too. So, it’s amazing just to see the growth.”
From moccasins to bead work, housewares to food, the collection of bazaars offered everything and more with many of the vendors and crafters being yearly attendants.
“There’s vendors like Katie Sickles who’s been here every year and she’s the master in her craft and she’s even teaching others,” she said.
Sickles is a splint basket maker and Froman explained that each year many people come to the bazaar specifically to buy new Kanohses baskets from her.
But the crafters tend to share a symbiotic relationship with the location as both can reap benefits.
“We offer the community and other people a place to make a living and then it helps the museum out too,” she added.
If you missed out on this round of bazaars, be sure to keep an eye out for the annual bazaar held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in the coming weeks.
