Youth artists take centre stage at Edmonton's A Very Indigenous Holiday Market

Shelby Williams, 13, is a multidisciplinary artist who does everything from beading to claywork to dancing. She says her creativity is innate and still remembers the moment she unlocked it. 

She and her mom Sabrina Williams, owner of Saw Sacred Beading, went to the craft store and bought a paint set and canvas. When her dad saw her work, he told her she should sell it at a market. 

"So I put them out on the table and they just went fast. That was the best $20 I've made ever," she said. 

Since then the mother and daughter have been working together and even received a commission from Explore Edmonton when the Junos were in town in 2023. 

Using clay, Shelby designed a pin in the shape of the province and she and Sabrina beaded around the outsides. 

"And I was like, 'There's the torch. I passed it,'" Sabrina said. 

Sabrina said she's proud to be able to share her Cree culture with her daughter, especially since her own parents were residential school survivors who weren't able to do that with her. 

"If I went to school, I couldn't smell like smudge. I couldn't expect to wear a ribbon skirt," she said. 

"It's so invigorating knowing that I don't have to be ashamed or shy because I remember my grandmother used to shut her curtains when she started teaching us beading."

Now the two will be selling their work — Shelby will also be jingle dancing — this weekend at A Very Indigenous Holiday Market hosted by the Indigenous Artist Market (IAM) Collective.

Sharing knowledge and traditional skills

Shelby was one of the youngest artists to join IAM when it began in 2018.

About 100 vendors, many of them youth, sell everything from beadwork and ribbon skirts to home decor and beauty supplies, while entertainment will include a fashion show, drag performances, live music and traditional dancing.

Students from Edmonton's public school amiskwaciy Academy will also do a drumming performance. 

It's all part of IAM's efforts to include youth as much as possible. Lorrie Lawrence, executive director of the IAM, says including young creators is important.

She says youth thrive because instead of seeing other artists as competition, they support each other.

"That's the sharing of knowledge and traditional skills that we sort of miss in an urban setting," said Lawrence.  

"It's not just the ability to make some money, which is great. It's also the mental health, the good medicine that comes from creating."

The arts and the collective itself help bring youth into contact with elders, advocates, and other community members, Lawrence added. 

Young artists and performers like John Ruptash-Paquette, 13, and Sarah-Lee Ruptash-Paquette, 10 are taught to check in with the elders, Lawrence said, and spend time talking and learning with them.

"[John is] my right hand man every time we have an event. I have never seen a young person work so hard and for free," Lawrence said.  

John's made candles, necklaces and bracelets for three years and Sarah-Lee makes keychains, necklaces, bracelets and earrings but her most recent favourite craft is slime.  

Family and community support

Sarah-Lee was looking for something new to try and she was inspired by memories of her mom, Vanessa Ruptash, making slime with them when they were younger. 

While Sarah-Lee is into slime right now, her mother says she usually makes keychains featuring positive words like "love yourself" and "be kind."

Vanessa, owner of Silarqi Beads, is Inuk originally from Nunavik, but has lived in Edmonton for three years. 

John says watching his mom has inspired his work, but his mother and little sister say he's developed his own unique "masculine" style over the past several years. 

His designs for necklaces usually feature black and white patterns and animal pendants. 

John says he still remembers the first piece he ever sold two years ago: an abalone wolf pendant. He made $35 on it. 

Vanessa said she tries to encourage her kids by providing them with everything they need. Sarah has her own sewing machine and both kids are allowed to use Vanessa's own materials. 

"I'm very picky with my products. But the moment they say, 'Mom, I have to use your beads,' [I say] 'OK, great. It's over there,'" Vanessa said. 

"But if my husband or anybody else would say 'I need beads,' I'd be like, 'No, no, no, you don't touch my beads.'"

Being part of IAM has given the family support as artists but also a strong community where the kids can help out and spend time with people who understand them, Vanessa said. 

It also reminds her of home. 

"There's always laughter, there's always stuff happening around the collective," she said. 

Her kids agree. 

"I feel at home there," John said. 

The holiday market runs from Dec. 6 to 8 at the Alberta Aviation Museum.