Indigenous Women's Arts Conference & Celebration!
A Celebration of Indigenous Women.
Everyone is invited to our Marketplace!
November 8th & 9th, 2025 | St.Laurent Shopping Centre, Ottawa
70+ Vendors, Art Installations, Interactive Activities, Performances and more!
The Locations
Arts Marketplace:
Vendors, Demonstratiors, Interactive Activities and Performances
St.Laurent Shopping Centre, 1st Floor below the Food Court
1200 St.Laurent Blvd., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1K 3B8
Workshops
Art Workshops, Massages, Tattoos, Moon Time Party/Film Screening
St.Laurent Shopping Centre, at Theatre Entrance
1200 St.Laurent Blvd., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1K 3B8
The schedule
Saturday, November 8th
Opening Greetings and Gratitudes with Kaienahá:wis Jonel Beauvais
11am - Amanda Fox, Jingle Dress Dancer
1pm - Feryn King, Indigadancer.com, Hoop Dancer
2:30pm - Métis Jigging Dance Troupe, Lyons Sisters
4:00pm - Leanne Tulugak Thompson and Friends, Throat Singing
Sunday, November 9th
11am - Patricia Rankin, Jingle Dress Dancer
1pm - Bear Fox and Kontiwennenhawi
2:30pm - Métis Jigging Dance Troupe, Lyons Sisters
4pm - Leanne Tulugak Thompson and Friends, Throat Singing
Get your Christmas list done and support Indigenous women!
DID YOU KNOW? The IAC is the first National Arts Service Organization/Registered Charity/Non-profit to implement a firm Indigenous Identification Strategy.
Every vendor who registered for our Indigenous Women’s Arts Conference and Festival presented their Status/Band card, Inuit Land Claim/Inuit ID or Manitoba Métis Federation Card.
Because the IAC only works for Indigenous peoples and you should only buy authentic art.
Moon Time Film Screening
Saturday, November 8 @ 6pm (by registration only)
Happy Moon Time!
It’s full Moon time and we will celebrate Grandmother Moon with a girl party and movie night!
It’s a Moon Water, pizza and popcorn kind of night with special films, Moon Reflections and feels!
The Opening Address by Akwesasne Freedom School
Tentsítewahkwe and Oherokon – Under The Husk By Katsitsionni Fox of TwoRowProductions.org
A visit from Veronica Brown of Moontime Connections, Popcorn by Kahnawake Kernels , Moon Water, Pizza and more!
Limited seating.
You must register to join us Saturday, November 8th at 6pm, Willis College, St.Laurent Shopping Centre (Theatre Entrance).
Activities
No need to register, just come on down!
Paint a Community Paddle Board Mural
Give your love to water with the Ohné:ka Healing Project by IAC
Loom Bead A Community Belt
Kelly Back and her family from Fire Loom Creations will be with us!
Join them and learn how to loom bead.
Together we will created a special belt to honour and tell our stories.
Everyone can contribute to this amazing interactive community project.
Make A Corn Husk Faceless Doll
Live art demonstrations and Corn Husk Doll making by
Kaherisakhe Crystal Henry of ChrisJohn Arts in the marketplace.
Learn About Haudenosaunee Basketry
Live art demonstrations by Carrie Hill of Chill Baskets!
Carrie will demonstrate how to split black ash, braid sweetgrass.
Traditional Tattoos
with Karonhioko'he,Karonhienhawe and Mercedes Terrance
Mercedes Tsasti’tsiahawi Terrance is Wolf Clan, Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) of Akwesasne and the owner of Sovereign Ink. Mercedes uses both machine and traditional hand poke techniques.
Karonhiénhawe Nicholasis Bear Clan, Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) of Kahnesetake. She is a certified esthetician and has been doing hand poke tattoos for over 4 years.
Karonhioko’he Doxtator is Bear Clan, Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) of Kahnawake.
Karonhioko’he is a full time paramedic and has been doing traditional handpoke for over 7 years. She takes inspiration from traditional Haudenosaunee symbolism, beadwork, pottery and nature.
Leather Pouches
Frankie is from the Whitebear Nakoda Nations Band, Treaty 4 Territory and lives in Ottawa.
She has been sewing since she was 8 years old and went on to study at Richard Robinson Haute Couture Fashion Academy.
Frankie is creative and works in many mediums. http://indigenousartscollective.org/frances-pasap
Moccasins
Laurel Thomas and im a full-time artist from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
I started formally beading with my late mother about 5 years ago when we moved back to our community.
My creations are made with intent of keeping traditional designs alive, while giving them new life in the modern world.
Indigenousartscollective.org/laurel-thomas/
Seal Skin Earrings
I am an Inuk from Labrador. I have always loved to create things. In the last few years I have developed the love for making jewelry and accessories out of natural items such a sealskin, fox fur, moosehide, leather and beading. Since being away from home working with these elements have assisted me to connect more with my culture.
Indigenousartscollective.org/christine-gautreau
Painting on Wood
Jessica Somers is Abenaki First Nation. She is greatly influenced by her grandmother who enjoyed creating scenic and wildlife paintings.Her father’s passion for carpentry and his hard work ethics and determination are what attributed to her success as an artist today.
Indigenousartscollective.org/jessica-somers/
Beadwork
With Courtney Skye and Talena Atfield (previous collaborative works include Protect the Tract raised-beaded Haldimand Tract).
A full-day intermediate beading workshop. Participants will make an Every Child Matters photo frame. Priority Haudenosaunee-identified participants for raised beadwork. Raised beadwork stitches will include bird’s nest, leaf/petal, and rope. Non-Haudenosuanee participants can do a flat beadwork project. Participants should already be very familiar with basic beadwork techniques or they won’t be able to finish on time.
Registration coming soon!
Ohné:ka Healing Project Community Mural
Join us for an interactive activity! The Ohné:ka healing project has painted 11 paddle boards and our last one will be painted during our exhibition at the St.Laurent Shopping Centre.
Akwesasne Freedom School Fundraising
Akwesasne community’s only private entirely Mohawk immersion school.
The IAC is committed to supporting the AFS! Find their vendor table in our marketplace.
We will also be screening:
Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen | Words Before All Else
A film by Akwesasne Freedom School staff and students that we highly recommend for your schools and workplaces.
Film Screening: Ohenton Karihwatekwen
An award winning film by Akwesasne Freedom School. The Words that Come Before All Else are spoken by past and present students, teachers, managers and parents of the Akwesane Freedom School. Directed by Jess Lowe Chaverri.
Indigenous Women's Arts Conference
We gather the people with the sole purpose of putting into action the reclamation, preservation and revitalization of endangered Indigenous art forms and makers. This work directly translates into the retention of cultural knowledge.
We are propelled by the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Principle that teaches us to understand that the decisions we make and the work we do today should result in a sustainable knowledge base and healthy environment that will benefit our people seven generations into the future.
That is, we call on the knowledge of our ancestors to embrace us and deliver cultural wisdom to women, youth and children in order to rise and protect our innate connections to each other and the natural world to which we are family.
Our work moves people forward in such a self sustaining way that we see a future where our children will no longer need to heal and where epigenetics/blood memory is embraced as the empowering and vital resource that it is.
The St.Laurent Shopping Centre annually sponsors the Indigenous Arts Marketplace! Willis College is also in the St.Laurent Shopping Centre and generously provides safe spaces for workshops, discussions and networking.
Niawen'ko:wa, big gratitude to Willis College and the St.Laurent Shopping Centre for their generosity!
The 2025 Indigenous Women's Arts Conference will hold the Indigenous Arts Marketplace at the St.Laurent Shopping Centre on November 8th and 9th, 2025.
St.Laurent Shopping Centre is located here:
November 8th & 9th, 2025 | St.Laurent Shopping Centre, Ottawa
IWAC Host Hotel 2025
Indigenous Women's Arts Conference, November 8 & 9th, 2025
Important to note:
We do not advise the Holiday Inn Ottawa East. In 2022 the women that attended IWAC experienced bed bugs, a physical assault and robbery as well as 2 car break-ins.
Very close to Holiday Inn is both WelcomINNs and Comfort Inn. They share the same outdoor area which has proven to be unsafe - please take care if booking in that neighbourhood.
Host Hotel - Courtyard by Marriot Ottawa East
Courtyard by Marriott is located at the corner of the Vanier Parkway and Coventry Rd., minutes from Hwy. 417, 5 minutes from downtown Ottawa.
The hotel is on the same street and only 5 minutes from the conference which is at the St. Laurent Shopping Centre and Willis College (which is in the shopping centre).
Your IWAC discounted King Size room is $169 + tax.
These hotel rooms are very large. The price does not include breakfast.
The group code is IWA-C
For booking reservations:
- Call 613-741-9862 (hotel front desk) or 613-741-9862 ext. 2000 (reservation team) with the group code *IWAC*, stay dates, and a credit card to guarantee.
- Use the reservation link below.
Keilhauer Leather
Once again the IAC will be bringing leather that is generously donated to IAC member artists, organizations and communities by Keilhauer. IAC members will be able to pick up their leather on Sunday, November 9th. Contact us for details.
Photo: IAC receives hundreds of pounds of leather each year and re-donates to communities, organizations and IAC members.
