Amber Naseem never realized the lasting impact making an Indigenous ribbon skirt in her fashion design class at her Kitchener high school would have on her until she completed the project. Naseem attended Huron Heights Secondary School last year. The skirt was the final product and a creative writing assignment in her Grade 11/12 fashion design class.
Her teacher, Connie Collins, provided the students with orange ribbons with names written on them. Naseem's ribbon had the name for Emily Redbreast, who attended St. John's Indian Residential School in Chapleau, Ont.
She died at the school on April 23, 1923. "After I made my skirt, I wanted to dedicate and name my skirt in honour of her and name it for her. So I just named it Emily Redbreast," Naseem said.
Naseem used a pink fabric with colourful circles on it to create her ribbon skirt. The ribbons have different colours and each colour has a different meaning. The students were asked to write reflections about creating the skirts and Naseem says she wrote a poem about Redbreast and the skirt.
"Do you like the colour? Do you like how the ribbons are aligned? I wish you could see it," the poem begins. "Understand that this skirt stitched with my hands trembling was the one taken away from you. Every stitch was a realization, every measurement was a regulation and every seam ripped was a guidance.
It was a journey that led me to you, to your story." Skirts part of exhibit Naseem and 19 other students worked on their skirts for a .