American World traveler Spring 2017 Issue

34
Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project
The TreadRight Foundation, created
as a joint initiative between The
Travel Corporation’s (TTC) family of
brands, announced a new partnership with
The Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project in
celebration of Canada’s Indigenous people
and their culture.
The Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project,
which aims to revive the traditional arts by
creating partnerships with elders and artisans
who fashion mukluks and moccasins in
the traditional way, is the fourth recipient of
a TreadRight Heritage Initiative grant globally,
and the first in North America. The
Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project will use
the grant to install a semi-permanent national
“The Storyboot School” at the Bata Shoe
Museum in Toronto, s launched in
September 2016.
The new Storyboot School will offer weekly
sessions that teach the heritage art of mukluk-making
to local Indigenous students,
while also introducing the art and culture to
visitors, in conjunction with TTC’s family of
brands. The project will also permit
Storyboot artisans from across Canada to
display and sell their mukluks at the Bata
Shoe Museum. This will be the first such
school in Canada to be available to all
Canadians.
“The Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project is
an excellent example of the ability artisans
have to help sustain and promote invaluable
cultural and heritage traditions, while at the
same time empowering individuals by providing
a livelihood,” says Brett Tollman,
CEO, TTC and TreadRight Founder. “Artisan
activities like these are an essential component
to many of the local economies in the
places we visit. TreadRight and TTC believe it
is of the utmost importance to be active in
the strengthening of this indispensable heritage
sector.”
“The Storyboot Project was created to keep a
dying art alive,” says Tara Barnes, Director of
Brand Development & PR, Manitobah
Mukluks. "TreadRight’s partnership with
Manitobah Mukluks is helping to support
artists in Indigenous communities and providing
important cross-cultural opportunities
to share the story of Canada’s original people."
The TreadRight Heritage Initiative looks to
help support artisan enterprises that engage
in the creation of handmade and culturally
significant products. Recipients of TreadRight
Heritage Initiative grants include the Centro
de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco in Peru,
the Laboratorio Giuditta Brozzetti in Italy,
and TRIA ETC in Greece.
Artisan activity is crucial to many economies
around the world. Hundreds of thousands of
people, largely women, depend on heritagebased
work for their livelihood. However,
integrating artisans into the global marketplace
is historically challenging, as many fail
to see artisan enterprise as a means to driving
economic growth. In encouraging and
empowering the producers and preservers of
cultural touchstones through the TreadRight
Heritage Initiative grants program, the foundation
continues its mission to ensure the
environments and communities TTC’s family
of brands visit remain vibrant for generations
to come.
www.treadright.org/project/st
oryboot-school.
American World Traveler Spring 2017