Native Creations Gift Shop welcomes all craftspeople

Native Creations Gift Shop opened this past August in west Akwesasne (Route 37) and the owners – Marla and Christopher Jacobs and Randa Martin – are committed to keeping their doors open for all artists and craftspeople to sell their work. The gift shop offers a variety of crafts and artwork for sale through consignment with the original artist and the owners don’t want to turn anyone away.

“We sell everything handmade by Native people,” said Marla Jacobs. “We aren’t saying no to anybody.”

The shop sells handmade traditional clothing, jewelry, paintings, dolls, knickknacks, music and many other items, some relative to culture and some not but all made by Natives. The shop is currently selling a set of speakers which were made by a local craftsperson and locally made fashion scarves are another item sold that might not be found in a typical gift shop.

There are currently more than 30 consigners offering their work for sale at Native Creations Gift Shop. The owners also contribute their own pieces to the shop’s inventory, and in their opening days they had help from artist Curtis Mitchell in finding others who were interested in selling their work there. Consigners are not limited in how many items they can display at the shop.

Jacobs said the shop is in need of more drums, rattles, moccasins and traditional clothing, which are the most commonly asked for items by customers passing through.

Native Creations Gift Shop is open Monday – Saturday from 10 a.m . to 6 p.m. The shop’s phone number is 518-358-0172. Jacobs and Martin can also be reached at 315-212-4253. Also visit the Native Creations Gift Shop page on Facebook, or email [email protected]