Jennifer Vandal

Jennifer began her Red River Métis Artisan journey in 2018, through a moccasin making class at the Musée St. Boniface Museum. There in Winnipeg’s oldest building, surrounded by the community and teachings of other Red River Métis women, another piece of their Red River Métis identity clicked into place. Growing up she knew her family was different; their culture, though unclaimed, remained an undeniable undercurrent running through daily life. Other families didn’t have fiddle music and dancing at their family gatherings the way hers did, or older relatives who spoke a wholly other version of the French taught at school, and certainly homemade Bannock on the regular wasn’t the norm! It wasn’t until their Mom in the early 2000s, inspired by what she was hearing about the MMF and their new leader, decided it was high-time to be proud of who they were and got the whole family to obtain their MMF Citizenship Cards. Each handmade item Jennifer makes is an expression of Red River Métis pride and a connection to her relatives and ancestors; she hopes you get as much joy from them as she had in making them.