{"id":3338,"date":"2024-12-10T10:08:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T16:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/?p=3338"},"modified":"2024-12-10T10:08:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T16:08:07","slug":"brenda-morins-clothing-collection-reviving-cree-language-and-honouring-her-grandmother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/eternal-3338-brenda-morins-clothing-collection-reviving-cree-language-and-honouring-her-grandmother","title":{"rendered":"Brenda Morin\u2019s Clothing Collection \u2013 Reviving Cree Language and Honouring Her Grandmother"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the burgeoning movement of Indigenous fashion, designers increasingly use their brands to raise awareness about their culture, language, and traditions. Among them is Brenda Morin, a unique designer based in Edmonton, whose work carries a deeply personal and cultural message. Read more on <a href=\"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/\">edmontonka<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a0090faec8d1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #090909;color:#090909\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #090909;color:#090909\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a0090faec8d1\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/eternal-3338-brenda-morins-clothing-collection-reviving-cree-language-and-honouring-her-grandmother\/#How_It_All_Began\" >How It All Began<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/eternal-3338-brenda-morins-clothing-collection-reviving-cree-language-and-honouring-her-grandmother\/#The_Collection\" >The Collection<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/eternal-3338-brenda-morins-clothing-collection-reviving-cree-language-and-honouring-her-grandmother\/#Her_Grandmothers_Story\" >Her Grandmother\u2019s Story<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/eternal-3338-brenda-morins-clothing-collection-reviving-cree-language-and-honouring-her-grandmother\/#A_Unique_Collection_with_a_Powerful_Message\" >A Unique Collection with a Powerful Message<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_It_All_Began\"><\/span>How It All Began<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When Brenda Morin&#8217;s grandmother passed away, her aunts were cleaning the house and discovered scattered scraps of paper. These papers contained short stories and memories written in their grandmother\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They found many flowing cursive inscriptions on scraps of paper and postcards. The women collected these writings, compiled them into a small book, made photocopies, and shared them with all the children and grandchildren, including Brenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inspired by her grandmother&#8217;s writings, Brenda decided to incorporate these stories into her clothing designs. This inspiration led her to create a line of casual clothing, including shirts and leggings, aimed at reviving endangered Indigenous languages. She named her collection Mixed Blood Apparel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brenda is one of the few designers working in this space. Her work debuted at the Otahpiaaki Indigenous Fashion Week in Calgary in 2016 and was subsequently showcased in Vancouver in 2017 and Toronto the following summer. In Alberta, the fashion industry has become a movement promoting awareness of Indigenous culture, traditions, and issues. Most local designers use their labels and designs as a form of advocacy, not just for fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"942\" height=\"613\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.edmontonka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2024\/12\/1-16.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.edmontonka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2024\/12\/1-16.jpg 942w, https:\/\/cdn.edmontonka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2024\/12\/1-16-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.edmontonka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2024\/12\/1-16-768x500.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.edmontonka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2024\/12\/1-16-696x453.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 942px) 100vw, 942px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Collection\"><\/span>The Collection<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Brenda Morin\u2019s line of shirts and leggings features solid colours adorned with words, phrases, and even entire sentences written in Cree. She explained that her vision for Mixed Blood Apparel is to create modern, stylish designs that honour Indigenous culture and help revive endangered Indigenous languages. Additionally, her work supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brenda recognizes the imminent threat of extinction facing Indigenous languages and has devoted herself to reversing this trend. Her grandmother\u2019s stories play a central role in her designs, beautifully preserving words and sentences through her clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Her_Grandmothers_Story\"><\/span>Her Grandmother\u2019s Story<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Brenda\u2019s grandmother belonged to the Michel First Nation and was sent to a residential school in St. Albert in 1945 after her father passed away. She spent much of her time at the school, losing most of her native language and speaking primarily English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in 2008, as she lay on her deathbed surrounded by her children and grandchildren after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, she urged her family to ensure her language would not vanish. Miraculously, as she approached the end of her life, her Cree language returned to her, and she began speaking it fluently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, Brenda found comfort in her grandmother\u2019s writings, often revisiting them to reminisce. At the same time, she pondered how best to honour her memory and preserve her legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This desire inspired Brenda to create her clothing collection, and she takes immense pride in her success. She believes that everyone should embrace and celebrate their culture and mixed heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Unique_Collection_with_a_Powerful_Message\"><\/span>A Unique Collection with a Powerful Message<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Brenda\u2019s first collection garnered significant public interest. She later designed Leggings Kohkum\u2019s Story Leggings, featuring texts found by her aunts written in her grandmother\u2019s handwriting. One design tells a story of her grandmother as a young girl going hunting with her father, learning how to skin animals, and walking in the wilderness despite her dislike of raw meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a short span of time, Brenda\u2019s brand has grown significantly. She has hosted several fashion shows and regularly collaborates with other Indigenous designers. Together, they organize monthly Not Your Squaw fashion shows, continuing to inspire and advocate for Indigenous culture through fashion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the burgeoning movement of Indigenous fashion, designers increasingly use their brands to raise awareness about their culture, language, and traditions. Among them is Brenda Morin, a unique designer based in Edmonton, whose work carries a deeply personal and cultural message. Read more on edmontonka. How It All Began When Brenda Morin&#8217;s grandmother passed away, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":406,"featured_media":3342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1036],"tags":[2188,2193,2194,2185,2191,2195,2186,2189,2190,2192,2184,2196,2182,2183,2187],"motype":[1045],"moformat":[66],"moimportance":[33],"class_list":{"0":"post-3338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-style-and-beauty","8":"tag-brenda-morin-designs","9":"tag-brenda-morin-edmonton","10":"tag-brenda-morin-grandmother","11":"tag-cree-language-on-clothes","12":"tag-cree-language-revival","13":"tag-cultural-preservation-through-fashion","14":"tag-honoring-heritage","15":"tag-indigenous-clothing-line","16":"tag-indigenous-designers-canada","17":"tag-indigenous-fashion","18":"tag-indigenous-fashion-alberta","19":"tag-indigenous-heritage-clothing","20":"tag-kohkums-story-leggings","21":"tag-mixed-blood-apparel","22":"tag-not-your-squaw-fashion-show","23":"motype-eternal","24":"moformat-vlasna","25":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/406"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3345,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions\/3345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=3338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}