After backlash, Minnetonka moccasins relaunch style with redesign by Indigenous artist

The moccasin-maker Minnetonka, 2½ years after apologizing for cultural misappropriation, has relaunched its best-known style after a redesign by a Red Lake Nation artist.

The Thunderbird, first introduced in the 1950s, is now Animikii. Graphic designer and activist Lucie Skjefte, a citizen of Red Lake Nation, reimagined the shoe’s beading work. It is named after her son, whose name coincidentally shares similar meaning as thunderbird in the Ojibwe language.

“The Thunderbird is one of our top-selling shoes and one of our most recognizable, so it’s been important to us to think about it related to our reconciliation work, and the idea of redesigning it with an amazing artist like Lucie is such a privilege,” Minnetonka President Jori Miller Sherer said.

The Animikii style will go on sale Tuesday for a suggested retail price of $54.95 to $67.95 for adults and $44.95 for children.

Skjefte also has worked on other projects for Minnetonka, the company said. Minnetonka, a private company, declined to share sales figures.

The company for several years has taken steps to reconcile its success as a white family-owned firm that made products largely from the ideas and traditions of Native Americans. The police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 became a tipping point in its reckoning process, as it did across American businesses and institutions.

In fall 2020, it posted a statement titled “Our Commitment to the Native American Community” on its website, and it updated the statement last fall. Minnetonka hired Adrienne Benjamin, an Anishinaabe artist and member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, as a reconciliation adviser in 2020.

Formerly known as Minnetonka Moccasin Co., the company issued a formal apology in October 2021 for adopting Native American culture without acknowledgment.

The company dropped “moccasin” from its logo in 2008, then removed the word from much of its corporate messaging and called itself simply Minnetonka. The company said it would start working more closely with Native American artists and businesses and continue to contribute to Native American causes.

Through Benjamin’s work, Minnetonka has been working with Indigenous designers to empower them artistically, giving them freer rein to rework appropriated styles and offering lifetime royalties for each redesign.

“This is a bigger moment to show that people can change and forgiveness can happen,” Benjamin said.

For this launch, in addition to lifetime royalties, the Minnetonka team filed the image’s copyright in Skjefte’s name — ensuring that she is the sole owner of her design.

Minnetonka calls this a game-changing tactic in the fashion and footwear industry and showcases that if a family-owned brand like Minnetonka can do this, others can follow suit.

“Minnetonka’s support is another way I feel immensely empowered as a designer,” Skjefte said. “I could really see myself elevating and collaborating with more Indigenous artists and bringing them into the fold.”