Carrying Culture Forward

Reflections on the Fjällräven Kånken Art Launch

In April 2024, the Fjällräven Kånken Art collection was released, featuring my Coast Salish design across backpacks and apparel. What began as a global product launch became something much more layered and personal.

Through this collaboration, $70,000 was donated to the Stqeeye’ Learning Society. The funds supported Indigenous-led land and water restoration and helped bring youth and Elders back onto the land together. The organization shared that they had long relied heavily on grants to sustain their programming, and this contribution provided meaningful breathing room and stability.

Knowing the project supported intergenerational learning, cultural reconnection, and time spent on the land shifted this partnership beyond visibility. It strengthened community relationships. It created space for teachings. It supported continuity.

That impact matters more than the product itself.

You can watch the launch video and learn more about the collaboration here.

An Unexpected Connection

One of the most unexpected moments came when an artist visiting the Field Museum wore my T-shirt from the collection. That encounter sparked a conversation that ultimately led me to locate a spindle whorl connected to my ancestors. I had not known the whereabouts of this Spindle Whorl since I drew it back in 2013.

A contemporary design collaboration opened a doorway into ancestral connection.

My studies of spindle whorls deepened. Spending time with these ancestral belongings in Chicago expanded my understanding of Coast Salish design and strengthened my love for our cultural items.

Returning to Fibre

I spent all of last year learning to spin and weave wool. Roving wool, hand-spinning fibre, and weaving slowly and intentionally. The process has been relational and grounded in mentorship.

One opportunity led to another. A backpack design led to a museum visit. A spindle whorl led me back to wool.

This project reminded me that cultural practice is not linear. It unfolds. It reconnects. It calls you back.

And this story is still unfolding.