John R. Sylliboy, an educator of Eskasoni and Millbrook First Nations in Nova Scotia, collaborated with staff at the Ikea location near Halifax to decorate a section of the showroom with items that represent Mi'kmaw traditional territory and national pride.
'It wasn't . . . how many sofas we can sell by doing this project. It was how many lives can we touch?' says David Duplisea of Ikea Halifax, left, who first proposed the idea of the Mi'kmaw collaboration."We turned it into a proactive way of approach rather than becoming defensive and saying, 'OK, they just want to use our images and symbols to sell products,'" he said.
David Duplisea, commercial activity manager at the Ikea Halifax location, proposed the collaboration with Sylliboy after an Ikea in Edmonton launched a similar initiative.