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.

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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.