Osamuskwasis’s Colorful Clothes Are a Celebration of Indigenous Joy
Growing up on the Pigeon Lake reservation in Alberta, Canada, Indigenous designer Osamuskwasis Roan often saw beautiful things being created (by hand) around the house. Roan—who is Cree and Dene, and an enrolled member of Ermineskin Cree Nation—comes from a long lineage of beadwork artists in her family, so it didn’t take long for her to begin admiring her culture’s intricate approach to craftwork. Shortly after, she started to create her own pieces as well. “I got into design through generational teachings that were passed down to me,” Roan tells Vogue. “I was taught how to design and do beadwork by my mother, Bear Roan, and great grandmother, Sarah Meguinis, at the age of seven.”
April 6, 2023