Founded by Shain Niniwum Selápem Jackson (shishálh First Nation), Spirit Works is an Indigenous owned, operated, and staffed company focused on the creation and distribution of authentic Indigenous products. These products come in the form of traditional cultural pieces such as our respective lines of bentwood boxes and wooden jewelry, but also include First Nations themed functional items such as doors, board room tables, retail units, public art, and much more.
What makes Spirit Works distinct is the fusion of West Coast Indigenous art and craftspersonship into everything we create. To accomplish this, on each and every piece, there lies a collaboration whether among staff or with our guests. It’s our partnerships that make us who we are.
Spirit Works is a company not just focused on the bottom line. We at Spirit Works believe in community. We’ve set aside part of our studio, located on Squamish First Nation lands, for community objectives such as workshops, youth forums, or to support local artists in their pursuit of larger artworks.
Spirit Works believes that the passing down of knowledge is an obligation. In furtherance of this belief Spirit Works provides employment and training opportunities to Aboriginal youth wishing to learn joinery, Indigenous art, or both. We also work closely with Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society (ACCESS) to fill these positions as they become available.
Spirit Works believes in protecting our heritage and our environment. Reducing, reusing and recycling are not just catch phrases to us. We live them in our everyday operations and are constantly making efforts to become more efficient in respect to these core values. Spirit Works has gone to great lengths to seek out recycled and salvaged materials. Within our shop environment a premium is paid to getting the most out of our materials. We are proud to say that all our major product lines are made from salvaged shorts which are the cut-off ends from milling operations. Although it is much less profitable to conduct business in the manner we’ve chosen, Spirit Works would not gain the approval of our communities and Elders otherwise.
