School District 60 holds ribbon skirt fashion show with students, highlighted by visit from Indigenous designer

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Some Indigenous students from School District 60 will spend the last week of April tapping into the very fabric of their heritage.

Both grade six and grade 12 students from the district are spending the next two days designing, creating and putting together their own ribbon skirts. 

The workshops will conclude with a fashion show at the North Peace Cultural Centre on Thursday, April 30th.

Ribbon skirts have an extensive history among First Nations Peoples. According to the Seven Generation educational institute’s website, the garments are seen as a “symbol of womanhood” and “connected to the earth and the grandmother moon.”

Heading the sessions, alongside First Nations Elders are School District 60 workers Ayza Fontaine and Holly Hanson.

Fontaine is a social worker, and works for the district as a child and youth care coordinator. She told Energeticcity.ca the idea to put together the initiative came from a visit to her ancestral nation, the Sagkeeng First Nation, along the Winnipeg River.

“My sister and I, a few summers ago, went back to Manitoba,” said Fontaine. “We were going to participate in some ceremonies and the powwow, and my sister gifted me a ribbon skirt for our trip.”

“I was so uncomfortable with it. I said ‘what do you want me to do with this? When am I supposed to wear it? This feels really inappropriate.’ [My sister] said: ‘No Azya, ribbon skirts every day.”

It was then Fontaine learned about Alyssia Sutherland, a Manitoba-based ribbon skirt designer who is behind Ally’s Creations. 

Sutherland’s designs have been seen on the runways of big shows in North America and Europe, including Milan Fashion Week in 2025.

“I looked her up. I watched a bunch of interviews,” recalled Fontaine. “I felt so much pride and so comfortable in my skin and wearing the garment. [It was] then I wanted other people to be able to feel the same sense of pride and being accepted for who they are and not having to know how to be Indigenous, if that makes sense.”

Working on last year as a “trial-run,” Fontaine created ribbon skirts with Indigenous students from grades four to six in the district alongside an Elder from Blueberry River First Nations, creating garments students showcased at assemblies honouring National Ribbon Skirt Day. 

Meanwhile, Hanson sees this undertaking as “everything to be able to give a culture back to our children,” when speaking to Energeticcity.ca.  

“I didn’t grow up with my culture. It was reintroduced to me when I was an adult,” said Hanson, who is of Métis heritage and an Indigenous student support worker. “It is a part of truth and reconciliation to be able to say who we are and how proud we are as a people.”

A special part of this project will see Sutherland and her team come work with grade 12 students, with her designs also featured as part of the show.

The grade six students will work alongside Sutherland’s team member Ocean Bruyere, who will work with the younger students on topics such as self-esteem.

“[Bruyere] is a performance and embodiment coach,” said Hanson. “She will do a little work on mindfulness with them.”

“Ally is amazing, [she’s had] shows in Paris, New York, Milan and Japan this year. We are so fortunate to have her.”

The Ribbon Skirt Showcase will be held on Thursday, April 30th at 7 p.m. at the North Peace Cultural Centre at 10015 100th Avenue in Fort St. John.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Cultural Centre box office or at the door.