Urban style meets Anishinabek history and culture in clothing designs that aim to promote a positive sense of identity among Anishinabek youth. These clothing designs comprise the visual component of my senior graphic design project, Then and Now: Asserting Anishinabek Identity through Indigenized Apparel. The project was accepted for presentation at Oregon State University’s Celebrating Undergraduate Research and was also featured in articles in Terra Magazine (“Cultural Designer”) as well as in the Corvallis Gazette-Times (“Research, her own way”).
The work references floral beadwork, ribbonwork, Anishinabek hoods, and images of the Thunderbird and Underwater Panther. The copper ink is not only a display of showy urban flair but also holds spiritual significance and is a nod to the ancient copper mines around Lake Superior worked by Native peoples. Leading up to the shirt designs, the project was very research heavy and in many ways, very personal.
Download the 36-page thesis document submitted to the Honors College.
The digital version of my 18-page book (fulfilling my visual, graphic design requirements) below, encapsulates the highlights of my research and process, including a short paper, my motivations, goals, and visual inspirations, as well as a number of t-shirt and hoodie sketches.
I made a new version of “Anishinabek” for a hoodie, modeled by my mom and gifted to my auntie! The back of the hoodie has the full floral graphic as well.