(Indigenous singing) - I'm a spirit on a human journey.

I'm not a human on a spiritual journey.

The art that I create is for therapy and healing.

It's for mental health.

It's to slow us down.

(Christy speaks Ojibwe language) Wiishkobizi Nibi Ikwe (Christy speaks Ojibwe language) means to be sweet like the water woman.

My English name is Christy Goulet, enrolled member of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

I am an Indigenous artist.

The art that I love to create, I like to use raw materials, which is wiigwaas, birch bark, pipestone.

We make (indistinct), if you take sandpaper and rub it on the pipestone, it makes a red powder.

And if you mix bear grease with that, it makes red paint.

And so I love using indigenous raw materials in my artwork.

I keep a notebook on my headboard, and sometimes I'm given a very profound dream and in my dream, are specific designs or symbols or colors.

Other times I'm given dreams of what family members would look like in items, and if they are given an Indigenous name, the symbolism that is shown in the dream, you can wear that as a representation of who you are as an Indigenous person.

Growing up in this community, growing up in a very dysfunctional family, my mom died when I was 10 and I had five brothers and a dad.

My dad was full-blown alcoholic.

I started drinking at the age of like 10.

By the time I was 13, I actually became pregnant with my first child.

I sobered up when I was 25.

I was on the verge of a mental health breakdown and I was scared that, I wasn't sure if I could come back from it and what would my future look like?

And I said, "If I'm gonna help my life become better, I need to get sober and I need to acquire skills."

And that's how my first outfit came together, was a fancy shell outfit, and it was traditional Ojibwe floral design with pastel colors.

And so that's where my very first outfit started.

From there, you have to really kind of learn to be self-taught as well because you have to be able to get out and acquire those skills and practice makes perfect.

One young lady who came to one of my ceremonies, who is from the (indistinct) Band of Ojibwe, After the ceremony, she had a dream that night and she saw herself in a dress.

That specific dress, just because she was still in high school, took us a couple of months because I have to teach them how to actually sew.

How do you thread a needle?

Can you measure, you know, learning math equations.

You know, it's very extensive for the geometry and the things that you need to understand when you're creating the dress.

If you put too many coins on it, it's actually too heavy.

(beads rattle on plate) I have wiigwaas earrings that I'm gonna be working on.

Those are gonna be gifts.

The people that I respected that I would give them to, they would be happier with that, than something cookie cutter made because they know that you would take the time and you put love into the item that you're making.

If an Indigenous teacher teaches you, like I do the red willow, the miskwaabiimizh dream catchers, I've had people take my workshops and say, "Is this appropriation?"

If I as an Indigenous teacher offer that to you, it's called appreciation.

It's not appropriation.

Because I'm gifting you that teaching technique and I'm gifting you the teachings that go with making that specific item.

I know that Indigenous fashion and art has exploded this year.

So many good things are coming out of it and seeing some of the younger people appreciate that.

But economically, I have bills to meet and pay too.

There's controversy right now in the powwow circuit because there are a lot of Indigenous people buying Chinese products and selling it.

Be aware and get to know the individuals that you're supporting that are selling art and making art so that you know that it's authentic.

Read labels, some things like dream catcher kits that are sold in stores locally.

Those come from China.

They're not indigenous to Turtle Island, which is North America.

So I'm always amazed at how the spirits do things, and that's why I love going to ceremony or getting ready for a ceremony or just living my everyday life because spirit reality is pretty amazing.

(Indigenous singing) - [Narrator] Funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008.

And by the members of Prairie Public.