How the Pow Wow Pitch is helping Manitoba Indigenous entrepreneurs build a network of support

Competition pairs entrepreneurs with mentors, and winners get cash for their businesses

Chelsea Kemp · CBC News · Posted: Sep 04, 2022 5:00 AM CT | Last Updated: September 4

Manitoba-based Indigenous entrepreneurs are using their experiences competing in Pow Wow Pitch to make room for First Nation, Métis and Inuit businesses in the economy.

"I think right now what we're seeing is a massive Indigenous economic movement," Pow Wow Pitch semifinalist Kelly Kristin said. "It's very inspiring."

The Pow Wow Pitch is a competition for Indigenous entrepreneurs. Those who reach the semifinals are paired with mentors and receive training to pitch their businesses to a group of judges for a chance to win prizes and advance to the finals.

To date, Pow Wow Pitch has awarded more than $250,000 in funds supporting more than 1,000 Indigenous vendors across Canada.

Winnipeg-based Kristin has seen doors opened by the competition. Her non-profit organization, Indigenous Parents Community, aims to help Indigenous parents in Manitoba overcome colonial barriers to achieving a higher education.

"Being in the community of alumni and mentors and other semifinalists has been the most rewarding experience I have ever had," Kristin said.

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The group of Manitoba Pow Wow Pitch semifinalists has become a tight-knit community. Kristin described the network as reflecting traditional Indigenous practices of people helping, supporting and building each other up.

"When you go back all the way into history books ... one little Indigenous village helped the other Indigenous village by trading, and they built a community," Kristin said. 

Fellow contestant Camille Munro of Sage, Braids & Barbells said Indigenous entrepreneurship is a different journey from what a lot of people in mainstream society experience. 

"There can definitely be some barriers, but there can be a lot of exciting areas, too, because we're just very up-and-coming, our generation," Munro said.

"I'm noticing there's so many beautiful Indigenous-owned businesses, there's so many new Indigenous entrepreneurs out there."

Her goal is to grow Sage, Braids & Barbells into a health and wellness centre that includes Indigenous fitness opportunities.

It's essential to welcome Indigenous people into the economy, Munro said.

Through the process of colonization, Indigenous people in what is now known as Canada lost many opportunities, she said.

Contemporary Indigenous people are now navigating how to fit back into mainstream society through the ongoing process of reconciliation, Munro said.

"It's important for us to be self-sufficient, self-sustaining type of people, and we really bring a lot of different gifts to the table, but some of us haven't been able to recognize our own gifts," she said.

"When we support each other, we support our communities, we support our families ... we support the generations to come."

'Force to be reckoned with'

Winnipeg-based Jean Spence's business Aleegis, which means frog, embraces health and wellness using Indigenous knowledge and teachings. 

The name came to her in a vision quest during a fast, Spence said, and she now sees it as a way to decolonize Indigenous language — reclaiming and strengthening her culture.

Aleegis is a movement away from Eurocentric-based thinking in therapy, Spence said, because it embraces Indigenous world views and teachings.

"The economic world is huge. There's room for everybody," Spence said.

"I'm seeing more growth of Indigenous people ... having their own business and I think that's an amazing future for youth."

Mark Bernard of Middleboro in southeastern Manitoba runs Bernard Training Solutions International, working as a sales trainer and coach.

"Being a proud member of the Manitoba Métis Federation going to different networking events, I realized that there's a lot of talent … in the Indigenous community," Bernard said.

Connecting with other businesses through his career and Pow Wow Pitch, Bernard found there was a common frustration shared by Indigenous businesses: their talents were going unrecognized.

That often left Indigenous entrepreneurs feeling like they were on the fringes of society.

"I want people to go out there and learn about Indigenous community entrepreneurship," Bernard said.

"Acknowledge them and make sure that they're heard and they have a voice, and that their business has a chance to compete out there with the rest of the business community in the bigger ocean."

Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs can work together as "one big family" to create change and space in the economy, Bernard said. 

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Pow Wow Pitch brought together Indigenous businesses from across Canada that likely would not otherwise have been able to collaborate.

"Whether … you win or not is irrelevant. It's just wanting to support the community," he said.

"We have to get the word out on the Indigenous business community because it's to be reckoned with."

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The Pow Wow Pitch semifinalists are eligible to win the People's Choice Prize of $1,000 and a guaranteed place in the Final to win $25,000 to grow their business.  Voting takes place until Sept. 19 at powwowpitch.org/vote.

Manitoba Pow Wow Pitch semifinalists include Brandon-based Three Sisters Bannock House, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation-based Herbal House, Sipie's Mobile Wash, Nativelovenotes, Ohcîyan, Bloom + Brilliance Indigenous + Feminist Design, Blackhawk Creative, Ribbon Skirts & Crafts, Red Rebel Armour Inc., ᓀᐓ Newo Designs, OM-Digenous Yoga and Wellness, Release the Knowledge, Watchful Woodworks, Northern Empire Wrestling, Sub-Arctic Explorers, the Prizmah Project and Simon the Scientist.