Neechie Gear is an emerging mainstream Native American brand of clothing geared toward the support of youth activities and sports.
Kendal Netmaker launched the clothing company at FF2 in the Co-op mall April 25th, promoting healthy role models such as Dakota House and many others. Netmaker, along with Neechie Gear, are helping raise awareness of what they are doing and how they are trying to make a difference with the clothes they sell.
The launch party was mainly a gathering of people having the opportunity to meet one of Netmaker 's motivators, Dakota House. The motivational speaker and inspiring actor was there to support Neechie Gear and the Co-op. He believes the company is bringing people together through Facebook, common interest in clothing and even the logo Neechie Gear, which stands for "my friend." NG was not always the company's logo. At first it was Moose Meat, later changed to something that would stand for the people and catch the eyes of the consumer.
House wants to engage youth by inspiring them to make their lives better. He does this by teaching plays and working with kids, inspiring them to go out and follow their dreams. He says if he had listened to people back then he wouldn't be where he was today. That is the reason the majority of the youth today lack motivation, he said. Many miss people or role models to push them to better themselves.
The launch party also gave Netmaker the opportunity to talk to the community about how you should live life and about the reason some Native American children go down the wrong paths. He spoke about how we could prevent it from happening in the future by being more supportive and encouraging youth with the decisions they make in their lives.
Netmaker had lived a hard life when he was young. His father left when he was five. This caused him, his mother, and his three sisters to move around a lot, mostly living in single mom shelters. Netmaker had a hard time fitting in and his mother could not afford to pay for him to do any sports. His mother had made the decision to move back to his reserve, Sweet Grass, where even there they had a hard time finding a place to live.
When Kendal was in Grade 2, they had managed to move into a two-bedroom house that his aunt was living in. This soon became the family's permanent house. He started attending Sweet Grass Elementary, then switched to Cut Knife a year later. Netmaker said he felt misunderstood there, which made it difficult for him to fit in. By Grade 5, Netmaker had picked up a major interest in sports. He was on many of the teams at school such as soccer, volleyball and basketball. For high school he attended John Paul II Collegiate, where as a minority he also found it difficult. In Grade 10, his volleyball coach came up to him and told him he would like to work with him on volleyball a little more because he had a talent for it.
Netmaker then had other doors open for him after high school. A volleyball coach from Keanu College in Fort McMurray, Alta. asked him to come play for them, so he packed up and proceeded to make a fresh start. Netmaker then enrolled in the U of S and while there created his clothing line.
Netmaker wants to make a difference in the lives of the youth by giving back and helping pay for their involvement in sports, because of the benefits that this will give. His company has recently expanded from Saskatoon to North Battleford and Prince Albert. He hopes that within the next 10 years he will be able to open up a few more shops and collaborate with more stores to get his brand on the mainstream, not only locally but possibly nationally.
