Our Harvest be gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted…”                               ~Edward Winslow, Plymouth, 1621

That’s all very well and good, but we all know how it ended for the Indians.  So I’d like to dedicate this Black Friday post to indigenous peoples everywhere.

There are many ways that fashion can be sustainable.  Either it is made with  environmentally-friendly materials, produced by workers in good working conditions, and/or long-lasting.  There is another, often overlooked characteristic of sustainability, that is the preservation and continuance of traditional crafts and methods of production.  Sometimes these even break into high fashion, as evidenced by the current season’s contentious Navajo trend, the political-correctedness of which is certainly questionable.  Urban Outfitters even had to rename its “Navajo Hipster Panty” and “Navajo Flask” after the Navajo Nation sent it a cease and desist order.  Woops.  

There are a few ways that traditional crafts become accessible to the rest of us.  Sometimes, a designer will learn the craft of a group of people and make his/her own version, as in the case of Kristen Lombardi’s Manimal line of moccasins.  Inspired by time spent in the Southwest, her website says that: “her process is driven by a deep appreciation for the almost forgotten world of artisan crafts and craftsmanship.”

And sometimes, people that have kept their own traditions alive will begin to market them to the mainstream.  A quick search yielded a site where Native Americans are doing just that, called Native Threads.

And in other places, crafts that have been rendered obsolete by modernization and globalization are being revived, with the double bonus of bringing back an art form and empowering a community reconnecting with its roots. I spent a lot of time over the past year with two amazing groups of Bedouin women in Israel’s Negev desert who are doing just that.

The first group, Sidreh, has revived the Bedouin art of weaving.  In traditional Bedouin society, the women wove the tents that the tribes lived in, worked in the fields, and cared for their families.  Now that many of the tribes live in homes in crowded cities the women have lost their position in the society.  To re-empower the women and revive the art of weaving, Sidreh founded a women’s collective to sell their woven products, and to teach women literacy and leadership skills.  To read more about their story, visit their website.
The other, the Association for the Improvement of Women’s Status, Lakiya, does a similar thing with embroidery.  Both groups are located in the Bedouin town of Lakiya, near Beersheva.

In my opinion, the use of old traditional methods of textile and garment production in modern fashion is a great thing for everyone involved.  I myself sport a purse from Sidreh and a wallet from Lakiya.  If anyone is in the Middle East, I highly recommend a visit to meet these incredible women.