11 Raising Awareness Through Cause-Related Marketing

In March 2021, Anishinaabe artist Chief Lady Bird announced that she had designed a beer label for the “Celebrating Sisters” Project – a collaboration between “Indigenous Brew Day Crew” and “Do Better. Be Better.” The purpose of the collaboration is to celebrate Indigenous women and all efforts focused on supporting Indigenous women in various endeavours.

Indigenous Brew Crew was founded by three Indigenous brewers – Mark Solomon, Seguin Sailors, and Eric Saulis, who came together with the same mission: to create a community that would empower Indigenous individuals while de-stigmatizing alcohol (“Celebrating Sisters”, n.d.).

There is a long and impressive list of breweries who partner with Indigenous Brew Crew, each of which provide financial support to a cause important to them.

• Red Tape Brewery (New Brunswick Women’s Shelter)
• People’s Pint Brewing Company (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Rorschach Brewing Co. (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Whiprsnapr Brewing Co. (Families of Sisters in Spirit)
• Counterpoint Brewing Company (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Orleans Brewing Co. (Families of Sisters in Spirit)
• Kichesippi Beer Co. (Families of Sisters in Spirit)
• Saulter Street Brewery (Native Women’s Resource Centre)
• Wellington Brewery (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Queen of Craft (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Split Rail Brewing Co. (Nookomisnaang Shelter)
• Katalyst Brewing Company (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Kahnawake Brewing Co. (local food bank)
• Shacklands Brewing Co. (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)
• Dominion City Brewing Co. (Families of Sisters in Spirit)
• Kensington Brewing Co. (Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society)

Spotlight on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Transgender, and Two-Spirit People  (“MMIWGT2S”)

While the campaign is focused on celebrating Indigenous women, it has also served as an important reminder about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, transgender, and two-spirited people – particularly throughout Canada. The National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls revealed that, “the persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people” (“Reclaiming power…”, n.d.). Systemic racism and colonialism are the key contributing factors to the historic and ongoing violence inflicted on Indigenous people.

For Chief Lady Bird, bringing more awareness to the issues of discrimination and stereotyping experienced by members of her community, particularly when it comes to alcohol consumption, felt like something her artwork could do.

When asked to participate in this cause-related marketing project, Chief Lady Bird felt it was important to ensure that she examine the partnership, players, and potential impacts very carefully: she wanted to ensure she wasn’t going to be involved in perpetuating harm or feeding into the ignorance about alcohol consumption and the impacts of colonialism in Indigenous communities.

“It means a lot to me that the money from these products can help various Indigenous women’s organizations here on Turtle Island”, wrote Chief Lady Bird on her Facebook page, “it’s an opportunity for us to fight these stereotypes and for Indigenous folks who are experts in their field to create meaningful impact with their work” (“Chief Lady Bird Art”, 2021).

Maintaining Artistic Integrity

From an artistic perspective, Chief Lady Bird wanted to create a design that was both empowering and uplifting: an overall creation that wouldn’t blur the lines between sacred stories and the complex issues related to alcohol. The label features a blackbird against a forest green background illuminated by shining stars. Similar to the kind of work that Kyle Williams, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) artist does for Kahnawake Brewing Company, no traditional designs, symbols, pictographs, or sacred stories are represented in the artwork (Monkman, 2021).

Chief Lady Bird’s artwork was generously donated to Indigenous Brew Crew for the campaign and is being used by Great Lakes Beer (and other breweries) as part of their cause-related marketing efforts.

By Andrea Niosi; Chief Lady Bird (editor)