Up a long ramp and down a narrow hallway at 1923 Fernwood Rd. sits a modest room, tucked away like a secret, but bursting with pride on every table and rack.
On the hangers are vibrant ribbon skirts, floral cloaks and beaded vests. There are feathered headdresses, wolf fur garments, Caribou antlers and devil’s club jewellery.
The unique and fully accessible regalia library, called “Kinship of the Travelling Ribbon Skirt,” sits at the home of the , and it’s chock-full of clothing to fit countless Indigenous identities.
“There are no gender norms here,” says VIDEA’s Kassidy George, of the T’Souke Nation. She holds up a black vest sewn with long, rainbow-hued ribbons down its back – one of many Two-spirit variations on traditional garments.
“These clothes are simply meant to fit who you are, what your energy gives off,” she says. Beside her hang intricate Métis sashes and Inuk seal skin robes, some with colourful dashes of queer flare.
This rare, grassroots collection sits free and open for anyone Indigenous to borrow from, especially the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It plenishes a major gap in identity-specific regalia to be worn for gatherings, ceremonies and celebrations, along with everyday wear.
It’s a place to discover oneself, to be respected and to simply belong.
Such belonging is VIDEA’s loud-and-proud mandate. For over four decades, the non-profit, which staffs around 70 people, has created gathering spaces in multiple countries for diverse people, especially Indigenous youth, to tackle poverty and climate change. VIDEA fosters feminist leaders through projects that promote equity, the environment and human rights.
“We want folks who’ve historically had their voices silenced to be put into leadership positions, and to represent their peoples,” says Rachel Barr, head of youth opportunities at VIDEA.
Barr says the library was the brainchild of a Two-spirited VIDEA leader who knew personally how much this project would connect and support the Two-spirit community. Within a year it took off, with support administered through the Victoria Foundation from the
And while Two-spirit clothing is a core feature, many other identities are also served. There are items for the local Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNE膯 nation, but also Métis, Inuit, and First Nations from up-island, the B.C. mainland, and the rest of Turtle Island (North America).
“There are people from all over who live in Greater Victoria. They deserve to be represented as well,” says Barr, adding that VIDEA proudly commissions Indigenous artists from across the continent to create pieces for the library.
Taleetha Tait, who is Wet’suwet’en Gitxsan and VIDEA’s manager of wellness programs, recalls the library’s emotional unveiling in June 2023, at a Two-spirit poetry reading in Fernwood.
She says the colourful clothing allowed many Two-spirit attendees to try on regalia that perfectly matched their identity for the very first time.
“A lot of people came into the space thinking ‘Is this too good to be true?’ ‘Is today even real?’ [...] It was so beautiful,’” Tait says. “I felt energized, and I craved more of it.”
The library’s core mission is to help diverse wearers feel recognized and respected. Santana Dreaver, Saulteaux and Plains Cree, says that when someone wears their regalia, they feel protected and safe.
Dreaver, who sits on the Prime Minister’s Youth Council, says the vibrant regalia library “challenges colonialism and what’s considered professional” at formal events.
“We’re reclaiming our identity [by] showing up in our colours in these neutral spaces,” says Dreaver.
Barr says she’s scoured the Internet for a similar project and hasn’t found one of this caliber and diversity. “We don’t want to hog this idea,” she said. “If there’s another library out there, or if anyone wants to create one, we’d love to connect.”
For Taleetha Tait, the importance of making regalia accessible in communities far and wide cannot be overstated. She says the library gives diverse people a sense of possibility they didn’t know existed.
“To see relatives that have been silenced for so long, to see their magic. To see them being celebrated and seen. It’s beautiful to be part of that.”
To learn more about VIDEA, visit
