19 Jun Indigenous Box

Indigenous Box is the subscription box and corporate gift service that promotes Indigenous entrepreneurship by creating opportunities for emerging, under-represented and established Indigenous businesses to reach new customers and enter new market spaces

Indigenous Box’s mission is to promote and elevate the good work being done by Indigenous entrepreneurs. As an Indigenous company we are setting out to make as big a noise as we possibly can, as far and wide as we possibly can. Our company champions Indigenous people’s true legacy: our ingenuity; resourcefulness; industriousness; intentionality; purposefulness; ability; cooperation; our greatness. We are guided by values based on the teachings of shared abundance through reciprocity and connectedness. At our core is a commitment to transparency, fairness, humility, continuous learning, and bold action.

With over 600 Nations across Canada, Indigenous people are contributing more than $30 Billion dollars a year to the Canadian economy and that’s expected to triple by 2025 to 100 billion. We are taking our rightful seat at the economic table and taking our future into our own hands. Indigenous people are changing the world and entrepreneurs are leaders whether they set out to be or not.

As the CEO and founder of Indigenous Box, owner Mallory Yangwhe studied Supply Chain Management knowing that Indigenous supply chains will be an essential component to building economic reconciliation. It will be the path on which Indigenous Businesses will thrive into the future. And I guess you could say that the idea for my Indigenous-owned Subscription Box comes from the same natural ‘cree-ativity’ and enterprising spirit that my ancestors had.
Yangwe describes ‘My professorss at school always talked about the 4 P’s: Price, Product, Promotion and Place. But I think that with Indigenous People claiming our rightful seat at the economic table, Indigenous Business has to be about the 5 P’s: Price, Product, Promotion, Place and PURPOSE.’ This is an important distinction of Indigenous entrepreneurship and business.

At Indigenous Box our top priorities are supporting Indigenous entrepreneurship, rebuilding the original supply chain, supporting people taking risks and building up foundations for generations to come. Indigenous people have the responsibility to walk in two worlds, we must simultaneously build ourselves here while honoring where we come and still engage in modern life.

As Indigenous entrepreneurs, our role is to support and uplift the community. Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job. We want our community to be thriving. Success means Indigenous people are thriving in the modern commerce world. Indigenous Box isn’t about one story. It’s a collective of Indigenous entrepreneurs simultaneously taking up space while making space for others and creating visibility for Indigenous business. Indigenous entrepreneurial success and education upholds our role and space in business and universities that our grandparents were not allowed to attend in previous generations. We aim to create a path and make space for other in Indigenous business success.

This is about challenging assumptions on what indigenous people should or should not be allowed to do in modern commerce. Many people still believe that Indigenous business is limited by capacity or access to capital. Indigneous people have survived the horrors of colonialism and systemically denied the right to an economy. For me, this means as an Indigenous business owner, leading a traditional lifestyle while being ready for the business world.