By Felicia Greekas

The month of November starts a new season of culture for the Coast Salish nations and First Nations across BC with the opening of the long house and winter ceremonies. People begin to prepare for this time of the year as part of their cultural connection through all the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. Nestled in each community is a sacred place where teachings date back to the beginning of time. Where the history is rich, the legends are told, and the culture is passed on and taught for the coming generations. The long house is a place where the history and stories come alive.

A very important part of the culture and these ceremonies are the blankets. They wrap the loved one when receiving a name, they protect the young in early rituals, they are used to stand upon when gaining the knowledge of our ancestors, and are used as a gift to those who witness the ceremonies. Orene Brown owner of Aboriginal Spirit Blankets provides these blankets which are a major component in all cultural ceremonies amongst First Nations within the Coast Salish territories, throughout BC and across Canada.
The name and idea came from her husband Reggie, who has been selling urban style clothing for years. They started off selling the clothes at different canoe races right out of their truck, moving into sports events, craft fairs and family festivals. After attending a memorial Orene realized people weren’t able to access the blankets easily and decided to take on the initiative herself.

The entrepreneurial spirit has always been there for her. As a child, she and her siblings would “play store, pretending to sell different items. One day our mom gave us a bag of candy to sell, which we sold for pennies.” Eventually, Orene’s parents opened a store of their own, selling a variety of items for years.

Aboriginal Spirit Blankets was registered on June 21, 2005 – National Aboriginal Day – starting with four colours of fleece blankets.  “The resurgence of our cultural ceremonies can only lead to more and more being performed in all of our communities.  The numbers have grown in the last 15-20 years.” I’m told by Orene Brown, who understands the significance of these blankets in cultural ceremonies. “We want and need these ceremonies, not only for us, but for our children. They are important to who we are and where we come from.  These ceremonies have helped a lot of people overcome negative things in their life. It’s a way to help them continue – it gives them something positive.” These spiritual ceremonies continue to get stronger and stronger involving more people in the community  and will continue as we will.

Originally wanting to have thicker, acrylic mink blankets, Orene realized it would be better to start with the fleece and move into different styles once the business had grown. With a Diploma in Administrative Systems from BCIT and graduating from the first class of the UBC Chinook Advanced Management Program, Orene is off to a great start. Her previous experience as a buyer gives her an advantage, understanding the industry and processes to follow.

She researched and found a manufacturer in China stating, “They (the Chinese businesses) want to do business in Canada”. She then chose her colours and fabric, having fleece blankets available in green, blue, beige, and purple with the flexibility to take orders for different colours and custom blankets.  Aboriginal Spirit Blankets provides what the people are looking for without having to shop around at local department stores hoping to find something that will work in the ceremonies. People can come to one place and have a consistency with their blankets.

Orene’s future plans for Aboriginal Spirit Blankets is to build a showroom outside her home where the blankets can be displayed for customers. She also plans to purchase an embroidery machine to add images and information to the blankets specific to each ceremony, naming or potlatch. Her company offers a range in orders from 1-1000 blankets at $10-13 each. An order can generally takes 3-4 weeks to complete which is great timing considering people will start buying up to two years prior to their ceremony. She has created a niche for her business. There is no direct competition (that she knows of) for people providing blankets up to such a large scale.

Targeting the local First Nations as well as Aboriginal organizations – knowing that the lower mainland contains the largest concentration of Aboriginal organizations with over 600 in the area – Aboriginal Spirit Blankets has the potential for success. “I want to make sure the ceremonies continue. It’s a bonus that they don’t have to pay tax and can buy as many as they need.” With 197 First Nations in BC Orene has opened the door for her business to grow as a “First Nations Business for First Nations People”.

Orene has two children and four grandchildren, she grew up on the Capilano reserve where she lives now and says her mother still lives on the property where she grew up. Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of involvement in culture. It was a time when the culture wasn’t freely practiced or taught. However, with her business and learning more about the culture she clearly states, “I’m making sure that my grandchildren know what the culture is.”

“It hasn’t always been a passion of mine, but it definitely is now. I’m committed to seeing it to the end. I’m not letting anything stop me.” As she says this, I look around and I can feel her passion. Her house is adorned with family photos and cultural significance. Blankets are stacked in one area, a computer and business items in another, and all this is surrounded with carvings, culture and family. Selling 300 blankets so far after receiving her first shipment in March of this year, Orene knows it’s only going to get better. Communities and families are always planning ceremonies and the blankets will always be needed.

Orene would like to expand her business, add new blankets and provide more services to include with the blankets. She’s taking it one step at a time telling me that getting to this point and having her business has been her biggest accomplishment. She’s living in the moment and enjoying the process. When asked why she does what she does, she simply and eloquently tells me, “It was a way of life for our ancestors. It’s who we are. It’s where we come from”.

Orene Brown
Aboriginal Spirit Blankets
Phone: 604-986-1394
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