It was born out of necessity, in the earlier stages of the pandemic.
“We were in a really bad place 18 months ago,” Battleford Agency Tribal Council executive director Neil Sasakamoose said. “We were fighting tooth and nail with everyone in Saskatchewan for cleaning products, care products, even toilet paper. Hand sanitizer was liquid gold.
“We (the Battleford Agency Tribal Council) were paying through the nose just to try and get basic care to our households on First Nations.”
The tribal council had caravans scouring the province for cleaning supplies for Saskatchewan bands that were on lockdown.
“Every day we sent shuttles to Edmonton, Kindersley, Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina,” he said. “Their sole purpose was to procure as much household personal care and cleaning supplies as we could.”
That’s where the idea for Nîkihk came from.
The BATC teamed up with a local cleaning supply manufacturer and began producing the personal care and cleaning supplies.
“The sole purpose of Nîkihk, which means ‘my home’ in Plains Cree, is to keep our people, well all people in Saskatchewan, all Canadian people and all First Nations people safe,” he explained.
They launched in April of 2020, and boxes were given out to those who received vaccinations at any one of the tribal council vaccination sites across the province.
“(We said) why don’t we give everyone who gets a vaccine a box?” the Sasakamoose, who serves as the president of Nîkihk, said. “We will create this Nîkihk box with some Indigenous products and we will give that to everyone that gets a vaccine.”
From there, they were then retailed in Sobey’s across the province. Now, after roughly 1,000,000 units have hit the market, the team at Nîkihk is ready to expand. In October they will be opening up a standalone store in the Midtown Mall in downtown Saskatoon.
The decision came after the mall’s owners reached out to the Nîkihk group with the idea.
“When they seen a Plains Cree product, developed here with our essences in it, with our colours in it and all of our language all over it, they phoned me and said, ‘We’d like to partner with you on space,'” Sasakamoose explained.
The Midtown space will be much more than just a retail location for the Nîkihk products, it will also feature a workshop where Indigenous arts can come create and showcase their work.
“We’ve created a space where our people can come and create their artistry; ribbon skirt making, ribbon shirt making, moccasin building, beading, carving, their painting,” he said.
“We’re really honoured that we have that space. We’re going to fill it with Indigenous goods, quality Indigenous goods that are authentic to the Plains.”
The initiative seems greatly beneficial to acclaimed local artist Ernie Scoles, who sees the platform as a stepping stone, especially for young Indigenous artisans.
“It’s a great opportuntity because you get to network, you can sit down with other artists, you can learn other techniques from each other,” Scoles said.
Scoles, who has been selling his work for over three decades, credits a mentorship with an idol that helped him launch his career.
“I won a few awards in a northern arts festival for doing pencil realism, then I met Isaac Bignell,” Scoles explained. “He got me started, gave me my first set of paints, he allowed me to tag along with him and learn the ropes of selling Indigenous art, getting it out there.
“I’m one of the lucky guys because I had a mentor to guide me along the way. His guidance was important; he taught me different aspects of art and how to make a living off of it.”
It’s an experience that Sasakamoose hopes will be extended to another generation of artisans who take advantage of the workshop space at Nîkihk Midtown location.
“I’m honoured to be part of a space that’s designed for products that are locally made in Saskatchewan by Plains people,” Sasakamoose said.
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