Hours before the models walk the stage for the I Am Anishinaabe fashion show, the show's founder, Delena White, was making some last minute fixes and the models were busy with their hair and makeup.

We had a lot of garments that we needed to get tried on.

Some things didn't fit, so we had to make some alterations and we always bring back up, clothing, backup shoes, backup jewelry.

And at the last minute, we're just really throwing everything together.

And everything always works perfectly.

Starting from the evening, yesterday or last night from when we all got together.

I wanted to be sure that I had the correct information to give everybody.

So everybody would be thoroughly prepared, and they would know what to expect.

I wanted everybody to feel, confident and reassured.

Could only come Tuesday.

You know.

It's very exciting.

Everyone's really pumped up.

We did our walk through so that everyone is comfortable.

They know their, stops and their turns, their pauses.

I work in collaboration with my mother, Delina white, and we, are the designers for the I am Anishinaabe brand.

We started out making ribbon skirts off of the legacy from my grandmother, Kathleen.

I was honored to be asked to model one of the 15 beautiful creations by Delina and Lavender.

Their designs and fashions are true works of art, but two are very special and based upon events in the news.

I.

For me personally, some of the skirts, that I'm showing are to spread knowledge and awareness about Mother Earth and about, the water protection.

I am debuting a water protection skirt, that is, blue with sequins and the relevance of looking out to the lakes that we are so fond of and that we live around.

There is a skirt that has the mother whale Tahlequah on the skirt, and that is to, show significance to, the animal world.

And where are we at in our own place and creation?

Her newborn, baby whale had passed, and so she, mourned that that baby for 19 days and pushed that whale around the ocean.

And the other mother orcas came to her aid.

And so that shows, the connection that women have to each other.

We have to be good to each other, and we have to empower one another.

As women.

The beadwork that we did is so amazing and magnificent and so detail oriented that, I want to bring that into the show so everybody can appreciate, who we were back in the day and then make the connection from that fashion to what we're showing and what they're seeing on the runway.

So we're trying to give the audience a little bit of everything.

So it's the different, times when we received, when we were trading with the Wampum Band and Talion from the east to the West Coast, and people need to understand about the Europeans that traveled from the East coast over to the Great Lakes, which is who we are.

And then what dates in time.

Did we have, access to a particular material like the plaid, you know, and the Velvets and the, silver and the different pieces that were, traded as well as the indigenous materials that were already in this area.

I'm always doing historical research.

I love the historical photographs, the sepia tone.

I'm in particularly always aware of the Great Lakes photographs.

Maybe because I'm always looking for my relatives who I could be related to, trying to connect my ancestors to who we are today.

I also just like to look at the photographs of Indians or natives who really enjoy fashion and who did back in the day that.

I am Anishinaabe had it start as the Great Lakes Woodland Skirt project, which included the fashion show and historical presentation.

However, it has grown into a flashy extravaganza that now includes male fashion.

And plans are for the addition of different fashion lines.

Sometimes I just want to discuss.

I have a, deep interest in the two spirit, community individuals that it's really important that we recognize, acknowledge and include them, not only as, a group of, of people, but to integrate them in everything that we do.

And so I am, looking at doing a collection for two spirit people, another, collection that we want to do to our wedding collections.

Yeah.

And a lot of people will think of, traditional white from the Western world, but we're really about a lot of colors.

So we want to do, I call it Anishinaabe red.

So I would like to see, the Anishinaabe people wear a lot of red in their celebratory, occasions.

So maybe a red a red wedding shawl.

Earlier this year, we did a fashion show in Toronto, Toronto's, indigenous fashion Week.

We went to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We did three fashion shows down there.

One is called a frieze, modeling, and another one was another runway model modeling.

And we hope to do that again, because that's really a lot of fun.

And we've been to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and that was, international market as well.

So that was super awesome.

How do you think tonight's show went?

I feel like it went really wonderfully.

I am so proud of all the models.

I think everybody just really excelled and who they are, and they've shown and worn the clothes just beautifully.

I'm so grateful.