For years, representation of Native Americans in television, film, publications and other forms of media has been severely lacking. But one modeling agency is successfully changing the game forever.
Founded on the traditional, ancestral and unceded homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations in what is now called Vancouver, Supernaturals Modelling (Supernaturals) was created by Cree model Joleen Mitton and entrepreneur and filmmaker Patrick Shannon in 2021. The organization exclusively works with Indigenous talent to ensure they have access to the resources and opportunities they need for a successful career in media.
Supernaturals has established itself as the premier agency for Indigenous people, focusing on uplifting and supporting talent from an Indigenous worldview that prioritizes people and culture over profit while giving clients the opportunity to be a part of healthy reconciliation within the media, fashion and modeling industries.
Left: Patrick Shannon
“Our mission at Supernaturals is to celebrate and make visible Indigenous peoples at a high level in media arts, culture, community, land-based wisdom and the global market,” Mitton stated in a company press release.
“Indigenous people are in high demand right now,” Shannon added, “and we want to be at the forefront of this new wave of cultural awareness supporting our own people in an industry that has traditionally been very difficult to thrive in.”
Mitton became passionate about creating the agency in the 2010s while working with a program that cared for Indigenous children in foster care. Unable to garner the children’s attention through the classic lesson plans and instruction time, Mitton created a fashion show that immediately sparked the group’s interest. There, Mitton discovered that she could build an inclusive, Indigenous and fashion-centered group on a much larger scale.
Left: Joleen Mitton
Mitton, an industry model since she was a teenager, decided to become a modeling teacher and founded Vancouver’s Indigenous Fashion Week, where the talent of Indigenous models and artists could be showcased. However, while many models experienced success within Mitton’s organizations, those who went on to gain their industry breakthrough had poor experiences in the fashion industry. This inspired Mitton to launch Supernaturals.
“A couple of our models had gone to a non-Indigenous agency, and they were treated terribly,” Mitton said in a discussion with TODAY. “What Supernaturals tries to do is bring culture elders and (an) Indigenous worldview into our agency. It was just a natural transition. We wanted to keep [the models] safe, keep them protected and keep them supported.”
By uplifting communities and Indigenous talent through skills development, employment and healing, Supernaturals is facilitating Indigenous-ally relationships through collaboration, education and healthy representation at the highest level. Supernaturals features models from various nations including Cree, Dene, Haida, Navajo, Sechelt, Salish, Squamish, Métis and many others—to better represent Indigenous people. Models under Supernaturals have gone on to work for well-known brands such as Roots Canada, Lululemon, Barbie, Herschel and Wonderbra and have worked with dozens of the top Indigenous fashion designers across Canada and the U.S.
“The best part about working with Supernaturals is that I’m working with my people, and I’m represented by my people. We are a stronger community; we are a family,” Talaysay Campo, one of the Supernaturals models, explains. “I’m looking forward to showing the world my culture and where I come from because not a lot of Indigenous models are represented in the media, and that needs to change.”
Additional information can be found at supernaturalsmodelling.com.
Read more articles for the Native Origins Community here.
