Ribbon Skirt Reflect on Their Triumphant Year and Making the Best Album of 2025 – Exclaim! Magazine
Dec 8, 2025
“The next record is written already, so we’re just making plans right now to get that in motion”
According to Kaija Heitland, a member of the Métis Nation British Columbia and founder of the Ribbon Skirt Project — a community-building arts, fashion, and history project — “The history of the ribbon skirt comes down to us through many cross-cultural interactions, and so, many different interpretations and expressions exist.”
According to Heitland, a ribbon skirt can be as “simple as a piece of clothing, or as sacred as a piece of regalia used only for sweat lodge and ceremony. It can be an expression of womanhood and strength, of remembrance of the Missing and Murdered, a symbol of defiance and protection of natural resources against corporate powers, or a representation of the journey of those who are reclaiming their identities through traditional practices. Ribbon skirts are a symbol of resilience, survival, and identity, but their meaning changes with each person who wears one and each person who shares their history.”
