TOC Legends is the reality of He-mi-ka-las, Pamela Baker, a native artist/designer from North Vancouver, B.C. He-mi-ki-las's expression of her culture, through visual arts have found it's place in the vibrantly creative world of fashion designs and for which she has been recognized throughout North America.

TOC Legends: Touch of Culture
Native Clothing
210 Whonoak Road
North Vancouver, BC V7P 1P3
Tel: (604) 980-2443
Fax: (604) 983-2446
Web Site: toclegends.com

 TOC Legends is the reality of He-mi-ka-las, Pamela Baker, a native artist/designer from North Vancouver, B.C. He-mi-ki-las's expression of her culture, through visual arts have found it's place in the vibrantly creative world of fashion designs and for which she has been recognized throughout North America.

GARY OKER is a Canadian Native Fashion Designer who incorporates SYMBOLS of Native culture into his designs. The designs are inspired by earth, animals, water and air. To continue his evolutionary visions of connecting the past to the present, he searches for symbolic knowledge and applies these insights to his life's work.

Spirit Keeper Fashion and Design
First Nations Contemporary and Traditional Clothing
Box 1657
Squamish, BC V0N 3G0
Telephone: (604) 892-3842
Fax: (604) 892-3486

T-Shirts and Sweatshirts from Warrior Apparel

Dorothy Grant Virtual Boutique

A'L'L' Sorts, Inc.

available at BlackBear - original West coast native drawings onto our wonderful line of vests, hats, scarves and blankets. All the traditional values of quality and durability that you would expect from products that you would find in a trading post company store can be found here at BlackBear. Great styles coupled with the embroidery stitching of original designs by artists Clarence Mills, Wayne Wilson and Clifton Fred.

Exhibit illustrates fusion of cultures in Native American, Anglo-European fashion

On Display at the Heard Museum North

A new exhibition that opened July 10 at the Heard Museum North in North Scottsdale, Fashion Fusion examines the stylistic exchange between Native and mainstream fashion throughout the past 150 years.

Using representative examples from indigenous cultures across North America, Fashion Fusion demonstrates how Native and mainstream cultures have inspired each other, according to Diana Pardue, creator of the exhibit along with the exhibit planning team members who include Marcia Berman of the Heard Museum North, as well as Jeannie Harlan, E. Daniel and Martha Albrecht and consultant Margaret Wood. The visually rich and diverse display includes articles of clothing ranging from Santa Fe resort clothing to fur parkas of Inuit origin. Augmenting the clothing display is an exceptional selection of jewelry and accessories. At the heart of the exhibition is the sharing of ideas and concepts.

"The introduction of new clothing designs, products and materials were all fascinating to Native Americans and they readily accepted them into their own basic clothing styles," says Margaret Wood, a Navajo/Seminole clothing designer, quilter and consultant on the exhibit Fashion Fusion. "But, even within each culture's wildly creative style, tribal groups tried to maintain some form of cultural identity."

Wood explains that the incorporation of materials and styles follows patterns dependent on any number of factors including geography, cultural contact, materials and, quite understandably, personal preference.

"The distinctive styles of Native clothing and accessories to some degree were dependent on the materials available," Wood says. "Some differences may have arisen from what materials were offered to them in trade, and whether or not those materials appealed aesthetically."

Wood points to the prevalence of beadwork among Plains tribes and the silk embroidery characteristic of Great Lakes cultures as examples of how materials and styles were adopted in a manner that continued to maintain distinctive styles among diverse cultures.

The Anglo-European influence on Native style was in some cases borne out of circumstance. Wood points to the dress of Navajo women as an example. Following the Indian Wars, the Navajo people were forcibly relocated into camps in the mid-1800s. Looms became a scarcity, forcing women to adopt the velvet blouses and tiered skirts, rather than adorn themselves in the traditional blanket dresses. Although this adaptation was forced by outside influences, the change in style was still based on preference.

"People take pride in personal adornment," Wood explains. "The things that they select and choose to wear, they are extremely proud of."

Jeannie Harlan, a long-time Guild member experienced in clothing retail and a member of the planning team for Fashion Fusion, credits the adaptation of Native style by Non-Native cultures to the uniqueness and beauty of Native clothing and jewelry. Examples of the stylistic exchange can be seen throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 1970s, mainstream designers such as Ralph Lauren incorporated Native American-inspired designs into their clothing lines, creating what has been described as "Santa Fe Style" clothing. Plains Indian and pioneer clothing served as the inspiration for the fringed jackets and leather moccasins worn across North America and Europe in the 1960s and early 1970s - a casual look that accompanied the relaxation of the cultural mores of the time.

"There are items in this exhibit that every visitor can identify with," Wood says. "In part, this exhibit addresses the universal appeal of personal adornment that touches people. People will be able to envision the individuals who wore these clothes, more closely identifying with them."

Exhibit illustrates fusion of cultures in Native American, Anglo-European fashion

On Display at the Heard Museum North

A new exhibition that opened July 10 at the Heard Museum North in North Scottsdale, Fashion Fusion examines the stylistic exchange between Native and mainstream fashion throughout the past 150 years.

Using representative examples from indigenous cultures across North America, Fashion Fusion demonstrates how Native and mainstream cultures have inspired each other, according to Diana Pardue, creator of the exhibit along with the exhibit planning team members who include Marcia Berman of the Heard Museum North, as well as Jeannie Harlan, E. Daniel and Martha Albrecht and consultant Margaret Wood. The visually rich and diverse display includes articles of clothing ranging from Santa Fe resort clothing to fur parkas of Inuit origin. Augmenting the clothing display is an exceptional selection of jewelry and accessories. At the heart of the exhibition is the sharing of ideas and concepts.

"The introduction of new clothing designs, products and materials were all fascinating to Native Americans and they readily accepted them into their own basic clothing styles," says Margaret Wood, a Navajo/Seminole clothing designer, quilter and consultant on the exhibit Fashion Fusion. "But, even within each culture's wildly creative style, tribal groups tried to maintain some form of cultural identity."

Wood explains that the incorporation of materials and styles follows patterns dependent on any number of factors including geography, cultural contact, materials and, quite understandably, personal preference.

"The distinctive styles of Native clothing and accessories to some degree were dependent on the materials available," Wood says. "Some differences may have arisen from what materials were offered to them in trade, and whether or not those materials appealed aesthetically."

Wood points to the prevalence of beadwork among Plains tribes and the silk embroidery characteristic of Great Lakes cultures as examples of how materials and styles were adopted in a manner that continued to maintain distinctive styles among diverse cultures.

The Anglo-European influence on Native style was in some cases borne out of circumstance. Wood points to the dress of Navajo women as an example. Following the Indian Wars, the Navajo people were forcibly relocated into camps in the mid-1800s. Looms became a scarcity, forcing women to adopt the velvet blouses and tiered skirts, rather than adorn themselves in the traditional blanket dresses. Although this adaptation was forced by outside influences, the change in style was still based on preference.

"People take pride in personal adornment," Wood explains. "The things that they select and choose to wear, they are extremely proud of."

Jeannie Harlan, a long-time Guild member experienced in clothing retail and a member of the planning team for Fashion Fusion, credits the adaptation of Native style by Non-Native cultures to the uniqueness and beauty of Native clothing and jewelry. Examples of the stylistic exchange can be seen throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 1970s, mainstream designers such as Ralph Lauren incorporated Native American-inspired designs into their clothing lines, creating what has been described as "Santa Fe Style" clothing. Plains Indian and pioneer clothing served as the inspiration for the fringed jackets and leather moccasins worn across North America and Europe in the 1960s and early 1970s - a casual look that accompanied the relaxation of the cultural mores of the time.

"There are items in this exhibit that every visitor can identify with," Wood says. "In part, this exhibit addresses the universal appeal of personal adornment that touches people. People will be able to envision the individuals who wore these clothes, more closely identifying with them."