Celebrating Indigenous History and 2SLGBTQIA Pride in Fibre Arts
- Noah Weaver
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
Knotty by Nature is a place where everyone is welcome, no matter your gender, sexuality, ethnicity, ability, socioeconomic or resident status. We strongly believe that every person on earth has the right to exist, to be supported, celebrated, loved, and included. In a world where many people continue to face daily marginalization, especially our Indigenous and transgender kin, we want to make sure we say this as loudly as possible.
We are also incredibly grateful and indebted to both Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA folks for their contributions to fibre arts. Many Indigenous weaving patterns remain iconic around the world, and the Cowichan knitters here on the island are famous for their unique, wearable designs. We are also in awe of the contemporary 2SLGBTQIA fibre artists who are constantly expanding the ways we see textile art and often use textile practices to explore social and political issues.
It’s easy to say we support our communities, but here are some of the actions we take to increase equity for communities that aren’t made to feel welcome everywhere:
Knotty by Nature frequently donates supplies, gift certificates, and raffle items to organizations that support marginalized communities.
We offer a discount to all Indigenous community members.We hire staff who are part of communities that experience oppression.
We intentionally carry affordable supplies in store and installed the Yarn Library so that folks who can’t afford our products will still have access to fibre arts (and we donate to the library ourselves frequently!)
We host a weekly drop-in craft night that is open to absolutely everyone, that is facilitated by a member of the 2SLGBTQIA community.
We ensure that we promote events that celebrate and increase access for folks from marginalized communities.
We ensure that Fibrations includes a wide diversity of vendors from many different backgrounds.
We encourage everyone in our communities to consider what they can do to show their support for Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA people this June. We hope you will speak loudly and take action to increase equity for all our kin, because we all have the power to lift each other up. At Knotty by Nature, we create the world we want to live in: one where everyone has a seat at the table (and in the knitting circle!)
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