Cree man’s dream of a Walmart bag ribbon shirt becomes reality thanks to crafty uncle

A vision in a dream relayed from nephew to uncle has spawned a unique fashion statement: a ribbon shirt made out of reusable Walmart shopping bags. 

Chase Meechance, a member of Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, had a dream of being at powwow grounds and seeing people around him in ribbon shirts made of Walmart shopping bags. 

After watching a livestream of his uncle beading and making powwow regalia, Meechance decided to reach out.

A ribbon shirt is a piece of regalia that is worn by a number of different Indigenous nations during times of celebration or during certain customs and ceremonies.

Some ribbon shirts incorporate flowing ribbons and flashy colours, while some are more toned down with plain design and simpler colour combinations. 

Some are made of polyester, cotton or satin, and some are made of reusable Walmart shopping bags.

Sage Ballantyne is Meechance’s uncle and the owner of Kihew Mekwan Designs, a powwow regalia making business.

“I can make your dream a reality,” Ballantyne said to his nephew in a phone call.

Ballantyne said it took between four and five hours and 13 bags to craft a roughly 4XL shirt for Meechance.

Ballantyne started sewing five years ago, designing and making powwow regalia for his son, who was six at the time and wanted to get onto the powwow trail.

“I had never touched a sewing machine in my life,” he said.

“I just started playing with it and playing around with things.” 

Meechance is the creator of the “Off The Rez” Facebook and TikTok accounts, specializing in original comedy content with an Indigenous twist. Currently, Off The Rez has over 260,000 followers on Facebook and more than 313,000 followers on TikTok.

In a recent video, Meechance wore the ribbon shirt to a Walmart location to do some shopping.

“Actually an Indigenous woman came up and complimented us when we were walking in,” Meechance said.

Ballantyne has now also crafted pants for powwow regalia out of No Frills bags, which took him approximately five hours to complete.

The Walmart ribbon shirt has inspired like-minded designers to sew with what they have, including a Dollarama ribbon skirt that caught the eye of Ballantyne and Meechance.

“They said they got the inspiration from the ribbon shirt video that was going around,” Ballantyne said.

“It brings me joy that people are recognizing my work.”