MILWAUKEE – On Friday, Oct. 30, Wisconsin Native Vote (WNV), a program of Wisconsin Conservation Voices, hosted a professionally produced runway experience at Marquette University in Milwaukee that celebrated Indigenous creativity, identity, culture, storytelling, and the Native right to vote.
“Through fashion, the featured Indigenous designers are able to showcase their cultural identities unique to their tribes, while the models walk down the runway with pride and confidence,” says Anne Egan-Waukau, Menominee tribal member and Wisconsin Native Vote Communications Manager and Tribal Organizer. “This event brought together diverse Native communities from the city and surrounding tribes, and united us with a strength and a shared passion for voting for our future on November 3.”
The event, Native Vote: Fashion in Action, featured six Native Wisconsin-based designers and 60 models around the themes of civic engagement, voting, and cultural responsibility. The featured designers include Aerius Benton-Banai (Lac Courte Oreilles), Suzette Mayotte (Bad River Ojibwe), Stephenie Muscavitch VanEvery (Oneida), Audra Two Thunders (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), Sunny Webster (Oneida), and Jennifer Powless-Benally (Oneida and Diné).
The designers created a collection of original outfits and one original garment that represented civic engagement through voting or the cultural responsibility of passing on the importance of voting.
“My work represents the sustained resilience of our people. With every garment I create, I am honoring the Indigenous people who came before us,” says Jennifer Powless-Benally (Oneida and Diné), designer and co-organizer of the event. “When our designs are featured on the runway, we are sending a message that we are still here, we will vote, and we will honor the next seven generations.”
Wisconsin Native Vote staff spoke with attendees about the importance of voting, finding their polling locations, what’s on their ballot, and other important voting information for the November 3 election. The crowd showed excitement and pride to get out the Native vote in the upcoming election.
Wisconsin Native Vote is a nonpartisan program of Wisconsin Conservation Voices and does not support or oppose candidates. The program aims to combat historic voter disenfranchisement and contemporary barriers to voting by educating voters, registering people to vote, and working to improve policies that impact Native communities’ access to the polls.
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