As the 2024 UNITY conference came to an end, young people dressed in traditional ways to represent their Native American cultures and attended a fashion display featuring items created by the renowned Indigenous designer Red Berry Woman.
On July 2, Native models displayed confidence and attitude as they strolled down a runway while music filled the Oregon Convention Center with flashing lights. Thousands of young people supported their classmates onstage while sitting in the crowd, dressed in traditional clothing from their countries as well as their best ensembles, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.
This year's UNITY conference brought together young people from Native American countries all around Turtle Island in Portland, Oregon during the first week of July. One of the biggest Native youth leadership events in the nation, United National Indian Tribal Youth aims to uplift and empower the next generation of Native leaders. This year's event was the largest yet, drawing in over 2,800 young people.
In the fashion show, more than a dozen young Native models wore various creations by Red Berry Woman, an award-winning Native fashion designer. Norma Baker-Flying Horse honors her Native culture via her creations. She is an enrolled Hidatsa tribe member, as well as a member of the Dakota Sioux, Assiniboine, and Crow nations by adoption.
"These designers, they use their designs to tell stories about things," Feather Rakestraw, an Oglala Lakota woman of 20 years old, remarked.