News
Teaching the ways of Native American art and fashion in Gardena
Heather Milbrath
05/28/2013
When one imagines the headquarters of a prominent fashion website, Gardena, N.D. is probably the last place they would expect.
However, Dr. Jessica Metcalfe thinks it’s the best place she could have chosen.
Metcalfe runs a website called, Beyond Buckskin, a boutique and platform for Native American fashion out of her house in a town that reported 29 residents in the 2010 census. “Beyond Buckskin empowers Native American artists and designers, advancing the quality of Native American fashion through education,” according to the website.
Metcalfe does it all for the site from finding the artists and interviewing them, to writing the HTML code for the website.
Why Metcalfe chose North Dakota has a lot to do with the environment, the people and her family. As a Turtle Mountain Chippewa, Metcalfe grew up near the reservation and went through school in Dunseith. She graduated as Valedictorian from Dunseith High School in 1999. Metcalfe then attended Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school in Hanover, N.H. There she struggled trying to figure out what topic to focus her studies on.
“I couldn’t settle. I wanted to learn everything,” Metcalfe said. “Religion, education, history, health, I wanted to learn it all. I finally began to gravitate toward art, because I have always loved drawing and painting.”
Instead of actually taking up art, Metcalfe focused on the study of art, graduating with her bachelors degree in Native America Studies, focusing on art. Metcalfe returned to the Turtle Mountains to teach at Turtle Mountain Community College.
“I loved teaching, but that also made me realize I had to go back to school to continue being a teacher,” she said.
Metcalfe then choose to return to school at the University of Arizona, where she obtained her masters and doctorate degrees in American Indian Studies, with a focus on art and education. She taught for one year at Arizona State University, teaching courses in art.
What started out as research for her Master’s thesis, developed into a dissertation project and eventually became the Beyond Buckskin website. Beyond Buckskin was primarily a blog where she discussed issues and people in Native American fashion.
“Many of my readers really liked my blog, but they wanted to know how they could buy Native American artists’ pieces,” Metcalfe said. “At the same time, there was a big controversy going on about Urban Outfitters, and their usage of the Navajo name in their products. I was encouraging my readers not to buy their products and to buy from Native American artists instead. The problem was my readers didn’t have that connection to the Native American artists.”
Metcalfe became that link between the Native American artists and interested consumers when she launched the Beyond Buckskin Boutique site. She knew, however, that she could not do it alone.
“When the boutique was only a few weeks old, I packed up my apartment and headed back to the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota,” Metcalfe said. “My whole family is here and I knew I would need their support to be doing this.”
Metcalfe says it has been easy for her to adjust back to small town life.
“I love the people and the environment. It is unlike any other place,” Metcalfe said. “You can see all kinds of animals and literally see a thunderstorm coming from miles away. Also, the people here in North Dakota are so genuine—there is no comparison.”
Metcalfe’s family also greatly influenced her move to Gardena. Both her mom and grandmother live in the town, with the rest of her family living in the Turtle Mountain reservation area.
“My family is so funny and fun,” Metcalfe said. “They have been so supportive of me.”
Metcalfe has many other supporters outside of her family. Her customers and followers are from all over, and nearly 20 percent of her sales come from Canada.
A different artist is featured each month on Beyond Buckskin, and Metcalfe updates the products weekly. All of the artists on Beyond Buckskin are Native American artists promoting a positive image of their culture. One artist on the site is Lonna Jackson, a Spirit Lake Dakota and Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Jackson makes jewelry from dyed porcupine quills, which have been a hot item on the site.
Metcalfe has been impressed with how well the site has taken off, and she feels she has gotten an overwhelmingly positive response.
“This past year has been amazing.” Metcalfe said. “It hasn’t been easy - but then, nothing truly great should be easy to achieve.”
Individuals, interested in Metcalfe’s website, can link up with her site at www.beyondbuckskin.blogspot.com/