Last week, an infographic titled “Why Native People Should Stop Buying Pendleton” went viral on Facebook. As the first Native-owned company to produce wool blankets, we were asked to comment on the content of this post – which was shared at least 10,000 times – by dozens of people and even media. At Eighth Generation, it isn’t our style to focus on the negative, so we declined to comment on the content. However, we thought this would be a great time to highlight the positive things we’re doing that distinguish us from the competition.

Beyond our many collaborations with non-profits around the country (i.e. Evergreen Longhouse, Sealaska, Tanka Fund, Seventh Generation Fund), here are some key facts to consider when buying products featuring cultural art.

Every year, we try to do something special to give back to the communities in which we live and work. This is also a way to perpetuate the community spirit that has been driving our company from the start!

In 2017, we brought our friends together to beautify a 75 bed homeless shelter in Seattle that amounted to an $8,000 contribution from our small but rapidly growing business.

In winter of 2016, we set our staff and interns free on the streets of Seattle with a stack of blankets. This is what happened!

During the Standing Rock activism – just as the first frosts fell – we sent a car load of blankets to comfort the water protectors. Later, we would work with the Native staff at Google and First Peoples Fund to send another $12,000 in blankets.

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