Crystal

BKFT Designs created a RTW fashion collection for Fall/Winter 2021. The theme of the collection is based upon the Blackfoot hero Tsako and his daughter. Tsako's Daughter is a lasting legacy of the resilient, power, and strength of Blackfoot women.

Tsako’s Daughter Tsako is a legend among the Blackfoot people. In the 1860’s, whiskey was traded for buffalo robes and cabins began to dot the southern Alberta plains. When the Queen wanted to make treaties with the Blackfoot, they had no real desire to talk about treaties. By 1879 the buffalo were virtually gone from Blackfoot traditional territory. Starvation hit and when rations were collected from the ration house often it was poor quality meat and blackened flour. In 1881, rations were reduced to 1/2 pound of flour and a pound of beef for a family. The rations were not enough so Tsako, Red Paint, & Always Takes the Gun went upstream and butchered a cow. The RCMP found them and sentenced Tsako and Always Takes the Gun to a year in jail. Fast forward, Tsako’s daughter Owl Woman later had daughters of her own. Amidst the tragedy of her parents, she persevered and built of a life of her own demonstrating resilience, empowerment, and respect. There is no Blackfoot word for crime other than buhsupsii (I made a mistake), and no one ever thought about the starvation and the coups this Blackfoot Warrior made to ensure his family would not starve. Tsako served as an example of the police brutality that has raged on for hundreds of years. This conversation ignited with Black Lives Matter. Our Blackfoot teachings always tell us to focus on the positive, so I choose to focus on Owl Woman and to encourage women who have experienced tragedy to keep moving forward. In my fashion collection I have named my fashion pieces using names and events from Tsako’s World and morphed the collection into Tsako’s Daughter.