Raven Reads has been in business now for over four years and we have met some pretty wonderful Indigenous entrepreneurs along the way. Since we launched in 2017, we have made some pretty amazing accomplishments. To date we have put over $380,000 CAD directly into the hands of Indigenous entrepreneurs; 78% of those purchases came from Indigenous women entrepreneurs and authors. We love making friends with entrepreneurs and forming relationships along the way, so we want to share some of them with all of you!

In no particular order, here are some of our faves we have come to love.

1. Sḵwálwen Botanicals Sḵwálwen (skwall - win) is a luxury Indigenous brand creating botanical skincare products. Honouring traditional Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) plant knowledge, we incorporate sustainably harvested and sourced plants and organic, high-quality ingredients. Each product has a Squamish name to honour the place where this plant knowledge comes from.
2. SheNative - SheNative exists to instill inner strength and unwavering confidence in all women, using teachings that come from indigenous nationhood. from our perspective, nationhood is knowing who you are and where you come from.
3. Kokom Scrunchies - The creator behind Kokom Scrunchies. Mya Beaudry is a talented 11-year-old Algonquin from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation. Since starting Kokom Scrunchies in the fall of 2019, Mya has always ensured that all Kokom Scrunchies are handmade with love in Canada.Mya named each of the original Kokom Scrunchies after Indigenous role models in her life. She hopes to also inspire others in her journey. What started off as an idea, has taken Mya on the path of bringing Kokom Scrunchies to everyone, young and old.
4. Wabanaki Maple - We are 100% Indigenous female-owned and located on Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation), Wabanaki Maple is proud to introduce you to this tradition that's shared by many Peoples of the Wabanaki Confederacy; Wolastoqiyik, Mi'kmaq, Penobscot, Abenaki, and Passamaquoddy.
5. Cheekbone Beauty - Cheekbone Beauty is an Indigenous-owned and founded, digitally-native, Canadian cosmetics company established in 2016. Based out of St. Catharines, Ontario, Cheekbone Beauty is known for creating high-quality, cruelty-free beauty products including our signature SUSTAIN line of lipsticks and eye pencils, our Warrior Women liquid lipsticks, and a variety of other cosmetics all designed for low environmental impact and maximum wearability.
6. Sequoia - Sequoia is a Proudly Indigenous brand that is 100% owned and operated by Indigenous women. Founded in 2002 by Michaelee Lazore who is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Akwesáhsne and Northern Paiute from Nevada. The design, production, and packaging of all the products are done in the working studio locally. None of the manufacturing is outsourced. In order to keep the next seven generations in mind, the production is sustainable, and ingredients are ethically sourced.
7. Fill Vernon’s Refill Store - FILL is a refill store where customers can truly decrease their plastic use by filling their cleaning and hygiene products using their existing containers! You will be able to refill shampoo bottles, conditioners, body wash, face wash, hand soap, toothpaste, deodorant, face cream, hair spray, hair gel and more. Cleaning products can be refilled too. Dish soap, laundry soap, dishwasher tabs, spray cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, window cleaner, laundry soap, fabric softener and more.
8. Native love Notes - My name is Amy and I'm from Opaskwayak Cree Nation. Our current fulfillment centre is located on Treaty One Territory aka Winnipeg. I started creating digital pictures as a way to make myself and my friends laugh. Life in a pandemic has been poopy, and there’s a lot of stuff to be mad about in the world. I just wanted to put my little bit of native humour to good use and make folks laugh and lighten their mood a little. Doing these designs also helped me offset a lot of overwhelming parts of life when doing a master's degree. I hope my work can make you smile and give you a reason to laugh with your friends and remember just how funny and resilient we natives are.
9. Yukon Soap Company - Indigenous-owned and operated, The Yukon Soaps Company creates beautiful, hand-crafted soaps, shampoo bars, essential oil blends, and so much more. Featuring wild rose petals, juniper berries, a Yukon-shaped press, and the beadwork of Indigenous artisans, these soaps are literally infused and imprinted with the spirit of the Yukon.  
10. Bison Star Naturals - We are a small family business whose products are made with organically, naturally, and locally sourced ingredients. We wild harvest the plants within our bar soaps and nothing ever contains animal products, dyes, or perfumes. The idea of Bison Star began in 2013 when we started making soaps as a hobby, although didn’t actually open until January of 2018.  We released our lotion soon after in May of 2018 and our liquid soap in January of 2019.  We’re working on adding to our product offering to include other body care products including body wash & more.