Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

EIGHTH GENERATION LAUNCHES NEW "TWO SPIRIT" WOOL BLANKET

SEATTLE, Wash.– December 7, 2018 - Eighth Generation, the first Native American-owned company to offer beautifully crafted wool blankets, is excited to unveil their latest collaboration with Two Spirit artist Ryan Young (Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa). This vibrant blanket design is based on a painting that calls out to a traditional Ojibwe story about crows.

The story goes that the crow was once very colorful and had a beautiful singing voice, but during a forest fire, it spent so much time trying to help the other animals that its colorful feathers became blackened with soot and its beautiful singing voice turned hoarse from the smoke.

"This story reflects the struggles and sacrifices I have made as a Two Spirit person and all I have worked through to get to a place where I want to teach others," states artist Ryan Young. "While this blanket celebrates Two Spirit people, I envision it as a blanket that anyone can wrap themselves in to feel safe, warm, and at home."

Young is a Two Spirit artist from Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. Specializing in photography and printmaking at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Two Spirit representation and empowerment is central in both their artwork and their community work. In this video, Young unveils the new Two Spirit Blanket at an event at the University of Washington's Intellectual House.

Blanket Details:

• 2-sided design

• Covers a Queen Size bed (200 cm x 150 cm)

• Microsuede Edge Band

• 100% New Zealand Wool

• Designed by Ryan Young (lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa)

• Imported

• Dry Clean

• $208.00

5% of all blanket sales support the Inspired Natives Grant for emerging arts entrepreneurs.

Eighth Generation launched the Inspired Natives Project in 2014 as a way to provide economic and business education opportunities for native artists. The Project is a collaboration in which community-based artists – whose cultural art is often appropriated by large companies - are treated as partners and offered business skills development and mentorship to build their business capacity and distribute artwork globally.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/27/2024 07:41