Ribbon work

Ribbon work is an appliqué technique for clothing and dance regalia among Prairie and Great Lakes indigenous peoples.

In 1789, the regime of the French Revolution decreed that clothing should be plain, so silk ribbons fell out of fashion in France and were exported to North America.

WIN was started in 2021 by Sergeant Kelly Willis, from a Cree reserve at Chisasibi in northern Quebec, to support Indigenous women and Two-Spirit employees of the RCMP.

In 2021, United States politician Deb Haaland wore a ribbon skirt made by Agnes Woodward for her swearing in ceremony as US Interior Secretary.

Isabella (Bella) Kulak, a 10-year-old member of Cote First Nation, wore a ribbon skirt to her school's formal dress-up day on 18 December 2020.

After she arrived at Kamsack Comprehensive Institute, 82 kilometres north-east of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, an education assistant mistakenly told her the skirt was not appropriate as formal wear.

Subsequently, Senator Mary Jane McCallum tabled Bill S-219 in Parliamentary to create a national ribbon skirt day.

The Bill "was passed thanks to the commitment and leadership of Isabella Kulak, her family, Chief George Cote of the Cote First Nation, Treaty 4 Territory in Saskatchewan, Senator Mary Jane McCallum, and Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton, who began advocating for this day after Isabella was shamed for wearing her Ribbon Skirt to school.

"[12] As the importance of recognizing ribbon skirts and their indigenous fashion have risen, there are a few modern or contemporary designers of noting who have contributed to the resurgence of this piece of clothing.