Manitoba footwear company strengthens aboriginal roots

WINNIPEG — When Sean McCormick first began making mukluks, he sold a few thousand a year, mostly to tourists visiting Canada.

Now Manitobah Mukluks is on pace to sell 200,000 pairs.

Business at the Winnipeg-based company is booming. Manitobah Mukluks has become the country’s fastest-growing footwear brand and their products are sold in stores around the world.

As sales grow, so does the company’s contribution to the local aboriginal community.

Manitobah Mukluks recently launched the Storyboot School, a series of workshops teaching aboriginal students how to make the traditional footwear.

It’s a way of preserving the cultural craft and passing on the skills to future generations.

I recently chatted with the Waneek Horn-Miller, dean of the Storyboot School, about the new program and the connections it will help make.