Indigenous Makers in Ontario: 6 Local Small Businesses to Support now
Ontario is full of creative, innovative and hard working local makers and producers, many of which are Indigenous owned and operated. These makers and artisans are producing amazing one-of-a-kind products that weave their traditions and history throughout their businesses, and integrate the values of their First Nations communities into their craft.
Raven Rising
Sudbury, ON
Chef Tammy Maki is an Indigenous maker making her mark on the culinary arts scene with her decadent hand-crafted chocolates. A Saulteaux Ojibwe from White Bear First Nation, Tammy received formal training as a Red Seal Journeyman pastry chef and baker, and has worked all across Canada at some of the best resorts and hotels in the country.
After closing her previous business due to COVID, Tammy opened Raven Rising in October 2020, and began selling her unique hand-crafted chocolates to chocolate lovers across the country. She utilizes Indigenous ingredients in both her chocolates and pastries, and sources from Indigenous-owned businesses and individuals whenever possible. Her popular chocolate membership (a box of specially curated chocolates every month), also comes paired with information about her Indigenous-based products, and the tasting notes detail stories outlining how Indigenous people traditionally use those ingredients.
Raven Rising chocolates are available for shipping all across Canada via their online store, and Tammy's plans for expansion include increasing her chocolate's availability in stores and boutiques across Ontario (chocolates are currently available in Hamilton and Sudbury), as well as offering exclusive corporate tasting experiences. Some must-try chocolates include the Ontario blackberry, strawberry rhubarb, as well as her Miinikaan & Manoomin Bar - a tasty organic and gluten-free granola bar made using only natural ingredients.
Where to buy online: https://www.ravenrising.ca
Beam Paints
M'Chigeeng First Nation, Manitoulin Island, ON
Beam Paints is an Indigenous-owned and female-led paint company based out of M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island, ON. Beam Paints produces beautiful hand-crafted watercolour paints which are made from natural pigments, are completely non-toxic, and are rich in tradition and artistic legacy.
Owner Anong Beam has art in her blood, with both her parents working as full-time artists on M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Being home-schooled for much of her life, she attended art school and then returned to work in her father's art studio as an assistant. Some of her earliest memories are of harvesting hematite pigment from the LaCloche mountain range on the island with her parents, which would then be prepared into "painting stones" using ceramic bowls, drumheads and rocks. These traditional paintstones are the inspiration for Beam Paints’ watercolour paints. Their paints are formed into carefully shaped paintstones, wrapped in beeswaxed canvas, and available in wooden palettes made from slices of cedar and reclaimed birch from a local Indigenous sustainable lumber yard.
Made with lightfast pigments (resistant to fading by light exposure), Beam Paints' pigments are crafted using a wide variety of natural materials from the region, including locally-sourced honey, washed stone, fox grape lake, sumac, and wild tree sap. For more complex pigments not available locally, Anong sources from the Society of French Earths which specializes in earth pigments. For metallic pigments she chooses to source synthetically, as all-natural metallic pigments are often high in heavy metals. Beam Paints are known for being smooth, easy to work with, rich in colour and are a favourite of watercolour artists across the country. Anong keeps her Indigenous culture woven through all her paint names, which are named in her native Ojibwe language, like Neebin Giizis’aande (Summer Sun Red), Ziigwun’aande (spring green) and Dwaagi’Azaadibuk’aande (fall poplar yellow).
Where to buy online: https://beampaints.myshopify.com
Birch Bark Coffee Co.
Ottawa, ON
Roasting up organic, fair trade and SPP certified coffee, Birch Bark Cofffee Co. is an Ontario-based coffee company brewing up delicious coffee and social change.
Established in 2018 by owner Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow, an Ojibwe and a band member of Whitefish River First Nation, Birch Bark Coffee Co. is an innovative First Nations social enterprise, with a mission to change lives. Inspired by his local community, Mark’s purpose is to improve the lives of Indigenous people by bringing clean drinking water to First Nations communities across Canada, while at the same time inspiring and bringing hope to Indigenous entrepreneurs and youth across the country. For every 100 bags of coffee sold in store, and every 50 bags sold on their online store, Birch Bark Coffee provides one home with a certified water purification unit purchased and installed for free.
The birch tree, the name and symbol of the budding coffee brand, has a close connection to Indigenous heritage. Birch trees have been relied upon for generations in Indigenous culture for canoes, paper, crafts and for transporting food, and are also a symbol of the improvement in quality of life - a perfect match for a brand whose goal is to elevate the standard of living of First Nations people.
Birch Bark Coffee Co. has a variety of unique coffee blends, all organic, fair trade, SPP certified and full of deep rich flavour. Each blend has a name symbolic of important elements and symbols of Indigenous culture, including the Summer Solstice dark roast, Coureurs des Bois medium roast and Dream Catcher decaf. Their coffee is available online for shipping across Canada and can be found in numerous stores, cafes and shops across Ontario and Quebec with new expansion coming soon into Alberta and Manitoba.
Where to buy online: https://birchbarkcoffeecompany.com
Giizhigat Maple Products
St. Joseph’s Island, ON
Maple syrup is a Canadian staple, and Giizhigat Maple Products on St. Joseph's Island, on the north shore of Lake Huron is a local maple producer steeped in rich family tradition and Indigenous heritage.
Owner Deborah, a member of Six Nations of the Grand River, and her husband Issac, a member of the Serpent River First Nation, have a long family history of producing maple syrup. From tapping trees using an axe and collecting sap in birchbark baskets, to hauling sap from the bush on large horse-drawn stone canoes and boiling it in cast-iron kettles, the traditional way of harvesting maple syrup is engrained in their family history for generations.
In 2012 the couple began Giizhigat Maple Products on their farm on St. Joseph's Island. The name Giizhigat in Ojibwe translates to Day, and is also Isaac’s original family name prior to being translated to English by the Government. Among their must-try products are their delicious dark maple syrup, maple butter, maple sugar and as well as some beautiful gift baskets. While their main business is maple products, they also sell authentic Indigenous crafts (created by Deborah's mother), and the long term vision of Giizhigat is to reinvest profits into a teaching lodge, with the aim of creating a place where everyone can learn how to reconnect with Mother Earth, and live in harmony through traditional knowledge.
Where to buy online: https://giizhigatmapleproducts.com
Red Sky Candles
Manitoulin Island, ON
Creating beautiful and unique beeswax candles, Red Sky Candles is an Indigenous-owned business in Northern Ontario that embodies environmental sustainability, creativity and Indigenous culture.
For owner Jackie Esquimaux-Hamlin, an Anishnawbekwe from Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nations Reserve on Manitoulin Island, and her husband Brian, beginning Red Sky candles was a natural choice. With Brian's dedication to promoting pollination awareness and environmental sustainability in the region, they decided to start their own business with a renewable resource in their backyard; their own beehives. Not only do they harvest the wax to create their intricately designed candles, but they also produce delicious unpasteurized honey which they infuse with all-natural ingredients like cedar, sage, birch, cranberries, herbs and spices.
For those looking for a statement centrepiece for the dinner table, or for some beautiful home décor to liven up an empty space, Red Sky Candles has a wide range of unique, beautifully molded candles to choose from. Their beeswax candles come in a variety of themes inspired by nature, seasonal celebrations and Indigenous culture, as well as some traditional designs. Some of our favourites include the braided sweetgrass pillar, two-sided feather totem and four turtle drummers. Their pine cone and pine tree candles are spectacular; perfect for a holiday dinner table, or to add to a cottage, cabin or outdoor space. For those looking for both candles and honey, they also offer honey and candle boxes, great as a treat for yourself or as a gift for a friend.
Where to buy online: https://redskycandles.ca
Manitoulin Brewing
Little Current, Manitoulin Island, ON
Founded in 2014 by friends Nishin Meawasige, Blair Hagman and Joet Dhatt, Manitoulin Brewing is a small craft brewery making waves across the world's largest freshwater island. With its brewing hub located in the town of Little Current on the island's north shore, Manitoulin Brewing produces a series of unique brews that combine local pride and its Indigenous roots into each pint, can and bottle.
Co-owner Nishin Measwasig grew up on Whitefish River First Nation on Manitoulin Island, and has been dedicated to collaborating with the island's Indigenous community for years. Before starting Manitoulin Brewing with his partners 7 years ago, Nishin spent 15 years working with Whitefish River First Nation, connecting Indigenous nations and governments with the Friendship Centre Movement in Canada. As part of the brewery's commitment to the Indigenous community, they hire and train brewery staff from members of the local Indigenous community whenever possible, while their onsite menu sources ingredients from the island's Indigenous food producers including whitefish (an island specialty), local venison and locally-grown fresh vegetables. Plans for the brewery's future include expanding their menu to include more traditional Indigenous dishes (like bannock), as well as collaborating with nearby Wikwemikong First Nation to create a cider from locally grown apples from their land.
Made with love, hops, malt, and water from Lake Manitou (the world’s largest lake within a freshwater island in the world), Manitoulin Island Brewing pays homage to iconic landmarks on the island in all its brews. From Bridal Veil Pale Ale and Cup and Saucer English Ale, to the Swing Bridge Blonde and Haw Eaters' Brew Lager, their beers are a hit with casual beer drinkers, and get the stamp of approval from even the most seasoned craft beer connoisseurs. You can find Manitoulin Island Brewing's wide selection of beers at their small brewery on the island, in more than 200 LCBOs across Ontario, as well as in numerous restaurants in Toronto, Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
Where to buy online: https://www.manitoulinbrewing.co
