In his youth, Richard Desnomie had never seen the Indigenous people of Fort Qu’Appelle wearing ribbon skirts or shirts.

Now twenty years later, he sees not only people dawning their heritage through their clothing, but that his parent’s family business, Becky’s Place, is responsible. 

“We made an impact on how fashion is, and just how people will go about their day-to-day lives,” said Desnomie. “It’s pretty cool to see something someone’s wearing, and [think that] I cut that fabric for them and they turned it into a beautiful piece of fashion.”

Becky’s Place is an Indigenous crafting store that provides products like fabric, beads, ribbon, regalia for powwows, and more.

The family business’s doors opened in 2018. It was named Becky’s Place to pay homage to Desnomie’s late sister, Becky, who passed away in 2004. 

“My mom always wanted to open up a store,” he said. “Thinking it would be a lot of relaxed work, we had this idea that we would be able to do arts and crafts on the job.”

In practice, Desnomie said that it’s not quite so relaxing: Bookkeeping, admin and future planning is hard work.

However, the effort they put towards their business allowed Becky’s Place to grow into a success.

 “I have regulars from Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, [Prince Albert], who come here once a month, [or] once every two months. We have a good audience, and every year we’re just getting more and more [customers],” he said.

Beyond the shoppers that frequent the store, Becky’s Place also sells supplies to a number of organizations. 

All Nations’ Healing Hospital and White Raven Healing Center focus on holistic healing methods. Both establishments hold workshops or sewing classes that support their patients by giving them the opportunity to engage in traditional and cultural arts. 

The classes call for a large quantity of material that Becky’s Place is able to provide.

 “It’s kind of a big ecosystem on how we work with workshops,” said Desnomie.

“One organization [might] need a hundred meters of fabric, two meter cuts of different designs. Or they need ribbon skirt kits if they’re doing sewing classes,” he said.

While Becky’s Place is a family run business, Desnomie attributes the majority of its success to his mother, Marla.

“Everything you see here, she did the hard work [for]. She set this store up for success, and this store would not be around if it wasn’t for her,” he said.

Desnomie took on the role of manager after Marla passed away in 2024.

“I suddenly got, very, very quickly, with barely any transition period, to manage the store, and it was quite the learning experience to get thrown in the deep end,” he said.

In the past, Desnomie was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life, but within the whirlwind of the past year, he has found a sense of direction. “[Managing Becky’s Place] is a lot of stress. [There’s] a lot of work here, but it is the most fulfilling,” he said. 

His new responsibilities included taking care of financial issues, finding decent suppliers for their products, and more. 

“I took that for granted when my mom ran the store,” he said. “She did everything.”

Desnomie wishes that his mother would have been able to see the developments Becky’s Place had made since her passing.

“She did the hard work, and it’s just unfortunate she didn’t get the chance to see the success that it became in the last year,” he said.

A photo hangs on the wall above the entryway to honour Marla’s memory.