Golga Oscar brings Alaskan Yup’ik culture to Fashion Week Minnesota

It took two years for Golga Oscar to complete a fur parka that appeared in a dream.

Two elders gave Oscar the lengthy parka within the dream. It was made out of wolf and mink fur, supplies historically worn by the Yup’ik folks of Alaska. The underside of the parka had black and white embroidery and the arms had been lined with a black stripe, one thing Oscar had by no means seen earlier than on a Yup’ik type parka. 

“The parka design was actually elegant and delightful,” Oscar, 25, mentioned. “One of many very distinctive parkas that I by no means seen in my life.”

That parka will likely be one of many centerpieces of Trend Week Minnesota’s Northern Lights Native Nations Trend Night time subsequent Tuesday on the Machine Store in Minneapolis. Trend Week Minnesota kicks off Sunday and goes by way of Saturday, Apr. 29 with a unique theme every day.

Oscar is headlining as the primary Alaskan designer, together with two different Indigenous artists, within the Native Nations Trend Night time present. The present is devoted to showcasing the lifeways of Yup’ik Alaskan and Nice Lakes Woodlands Anishinaabeg cultures.

“What connects the three of us designers collectively are the Northern Lights, which occurs within the wintertime and springtime,” mentioned Delina White, Native attire designer and organizer of the present. “It’s thought of within the Native nations that these are our kinfolk.”

Oscar is a two-spirit artist from a small, rural village in western Alaska and can be a member of the Yup’ik Nation, an Indigenous group in west and southwest Alaska. Trend Week Minnesota will likely be Oscar’s first style present outdoors of Alaska.

“I wish to inform the world that the time period Eskimo does is not does not actually outline nearly all of Alaskan Natives,” mentioned Oscar. “My work represents Yup’ik tradition and defines a particular tribe aside from the time period Eskimo.”

They’re a self-taught artist specializing in stitching, beading, carving and basket weaving. Oscar’s work, which incorporates parkas, headdresses and mukluk boots, attracts inspiration from archived pictures collections of Yup’ik conventional clothes and books on cultural historical past.

“To have Oscar’s art work and a chunk of his conventional cultural arts in Minneapolis is admittedly particular, uncommon and distinctive as a result of it doesn’t occur usually,” mentioned White. “His work is gorgeous and such a particular artwork type.”

Oscar mentioned artwork saved their life from “Western ideology and Western toxicity.” When Oscar’s not engaged on a brand new parka or headdress, they educate Yup’ik language and humanities at a neighborhood faculty of their village with an emphasis on decolonizing Indigenous tradition.

“I’m doing this for myself, my household and particularly my neighborhood and my college students,” mentioned Oscar. “I would like them to grasp that pursuing artistry, pursuing your tradition, pursuing your id can deliver you to many locations and unveil quite a lot of hidden information about your cultural id, and the historical past behind it.”

Tickets for the Northern Lights style present begin at $75 and can be found at fashionweekmn.com.