February 11, 2017

You are a Diamond, Dear, They Can't Break You

It has been a difficult winter, but we see the light, and our little crew of employees has been working hard creating (which is one of the best things you can do in times like this) beautiful new gift sets inspired by amazing and strong women.

We are very fortunate to be surrounded by inspiring ladies, even just here in our little Turtle Mountain shopping center. We joke that the regional television news should do a “Business Beat” series here - we think we’d be able to give them a whole month’s worth of interesting segments!

  • Dr. Tami Jollie-Trottier is a clinical psychologist with Seven Stone: Center for Behavioral Health & Healing, and Bush Fellow, and she just launched Generation Art, a new arts space here on the reservation. 
  • Jona Peltier, who I am blessed to call my sister, also just launched her private practice with Seven Stone as a licensed independent clinical social worker. She also works with young mothers in her parenting class, and gives workshops to help child providers identify signs of trauma, depression and anxiety in an effort to help our little ones as early as possible.
  • Kristy Zaste, my cousin, is a wife and mother of 3 tiny boys (including cute twins!) and owns two successful businesses here on the rez - a yummy new restaurant called The Shack and Horsemen’s Bar, which promotes and supports local musicians alongside nationally-recognized acts. 
  • Jennifer Keplin is a board certified Psychiatric Mental Heath Nurse Practitioner with Seven Stone, and, with her husband, organizes the annual Ryan Keplin Summerfest, which is an event spotlighting Turtle Mountain music, dance, culture, food, and art.
They are gorgeous, talented, badass. They are perfect, especially in how they deal with their challenges and struggles. They’ve always been forthright in expressing frustration in a “Anybody else feel like curling up into a ball and crying? Me neither. Haha” sort of way that makes you feel comforted in knowing that everyone struggles in pursuit of their dreams. But it is for a reason and ultimately worth it.

 


These women make me smile. They say that you should surround yourself with people you aspire to be like. This will encourage you to push yourself daily to be better. I believe this wholeheartedly, and I think that you are (most likely) in agreement. Because of these reasons, we have created these gift sets to make it easy to celebrate, honor, and thank those badass and beautiful women in our lives. Maybe it’s your grandma who insists on planting and maintaining both a vegetable garden to share with the fam, and a flower garden to beautify the yard. Maybe it’s a sister who just blessed you with a new baby niece or nephew. Maybe it’s a love who has incredible patience with you, makes you feel special, kisses you nightly, and inspires you daily. Maybe it’s your mom, maybe it’s a best friend, and maybe it’s yourself, because, honestly, we should celebrate the beauty of life always.

These sets are each one-of-a-kind, and handmade in the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota by Amber Allery, Kellie Henry, Tyra Jerome, and Alexia LaFountain, and photographed by Dillan Martin - all Turtle Mountain tribal members and rockstar Beyond Buckskin employees. View the collection now at this link, and pick something up for yourself and the special people in your life.