Honor Our Legacy Fashion Show returns Sept. 16

The Seventh Annual Honor Our Legacy Fashion Show is on for Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. at Northern Winz Casino, a free event for the community featuring a lineup of Indigenous fashion, modeling competitions, music and art vendors.

The event, organized by local fashion designer Rebekah Jarvey, has been expanding in scope year after year as Jarvey has risen in prominence in the fashion industry over the past few years.

Jarvey said, as she's participated in more and more fashion shows over the years, she's been able to refine and improve the Honor Our Legacy show using that experience.

This year, she said, models will be traveling to the show from across Montana, the Dakotas, New Mexico and Canada to participate and help show off the new clothes of the show's three designers.

Yolanda Old Dwarf of Sweet Sage Woman Designs, a member of the Crow Nation, will have her line on display along with designs of Sherleen Yellowhair of the Navajo Nation.

Lisa Redford of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, who specializes in blending traditional techniques with edgy modern fashion, will also be there with her clothes.

Jarvey said the designers will be available after the show with their pieces along with many other artists who are setting up booths at the event.

The show will also feature competitions with different categories of clothing including new and more traditional native fashion.

The show will also feature musical performances by Nataani Means and Spur Pourier, for former of whom will be making his third appearance at the show.

Jarvey said both of these singers have developed a following at Rocky Boy, and she's excited to have them back, as well as Montana Cree as the host drum.

This year, she said, the show will also feature circus acts by standup comedian and knife juggler Sam Malcolm and Stephanie Marie Little Thunder Morphet-Tepp, known on the stage as The Flying Brain.

She said the event is drug and alcohol free and is family friendly, and she encouraged anyone who wants to see a great show to come.

Jarvey herself has also been rising in prominence within the fashion industry, emerging as a leader in bringing Indigenous fashion into the mainstream.

Jarvey said that, even back in 2021, Indigenous fashion wasn't really that prominent within mainstream fashion but that is starting to change.

With this element of fashion becoming more and more accepted, Jarvey's personal career as a designer and model has become more well known on the national and, increasingly, the inter-nation stage.

Jarvey said these recent successes have opened up opportunities to participate in more shows across the country as well as one in France.

"It's very humbling," she said. " ... All of my work and dedication is paying off."

She said she's starting to be specifically invited to events not just as a participant, but as an advisor, by people who are interested to hear her opinion.

"It's a really good feeling," she said. " ... When I go to places, people know me."

Despite these recent personal successes in the wider fashion industry, she said, she wants to keep the Honor Our Legacy Fashion Show an event that is for the local community first and foremost, hence its focus on family friendliness.

Jarvey said it is a great opportunity for people to get a feel for the industry and see if they like it or not.

She said they are still looking for a few volunteers to help set the event up and she needs a personal assistant for the event, which she said would be a good opportunity for someone looking to get some experience helping with event organizing by shadowing her.

She said she wanted to thank Northern Winz for hosting the event for the fourth year in a row, and said it wouldn't have been possible for the show to become what it has without their support.