Calico & Camouflage is a fashion collection of ResistanceWear defined by traditionally-inspired ribbon shirts and military-style cargo pants–two articles of clothing that are intertwined with the history of colonization on Turtle Island.

Calico & Camouflage exists in both the digital and the physical world. The collection was originally designed to be worn by beloved avatars customized by the team at Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC). It was brought into the physical world to be worn by Real Human Beings who wish to simultaneously proclaim their Indigeneity and their readiness to resist ongoing assimilation.

Colourful silk ribbons and floral calico fabric were first introduced to our communities in the 1600s through trade with European settlers and were adopted and adapted by our innovative ancestors. Ribbon shirts and dresses have since become widely-recognized signifiers of traditional Haudenosaunee regalia. In contrast, military garb has been adopted in defiance of the repeated attempts by colonial forces to eliminate us. From Wounded Knee to the Oka Crisis to Standing Rock to Mauna Kea, our land- and life-defenders have claimed camouflage clothing for their own to show that we are not afraid to fight. Indigenous artists and designers such as Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel and Tammy Beauvais have connected camouflage, activism and the Indigenous body to make fashion statements.

In this collection, updated and abstracted original calico and camouflage patterns are mixed and matched: camouflage ribbon shirts are paired with calico cargo pants. Powerful pink, cool blue, olive green, and gun-metal grey are the dominant colours, reflecting contemporary landscapes of activism, including demonstrations in city streets, rural roads, courtrooms and cyberspace.

This project has evolved into 4 components: