The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is set to light up its cultural center this Saturday with a runway show built around fire, featuring five Indigenous designers, a live musical performance, and a market stocked with handmade jewelry and beadwork. The third annual Hoċokata Ṫi Fashion Show is scheduled to open with a welcome reception at 4 p.m., followed by the show itself at 6 p.m.
The SMSC announced the event would carry the theme “Ṗéta: The Fire Connects Us,” with Ṗéta serving as the Dakota word for fire, according to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. A listing from MSP Magazine renders the same theme slightly differently, as “Ṗéta: The Fire that Connects Us,” though both describe the same Saturday event. The show falls during Native American Heritage Month, and the SMSC says it celebrates Indigenous fashion, art, and culture.
Designers and a Dakota Fire Theme
Five Indigenous designers are scheduled to present work: Jeremy Arviso of the Navajo Nation, Bobby Brower, who is Inupiaq, Korina Emmerich, who is of Puyallup descent, Norma Baker-Flying Horse of the Three Affiliated Tribes, and Tyler Rambeau of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, per the SMSC's announcement. CBS News Minnesota reports that SMSC Secretary/Treasurer Ashley Cornforth said designers from across the Midwest will show work inspired by fire and connection, tying the collections directly to this year's theme.
Cornforth, who holds the title of SMSC Secretary/Treasurer, called the event a cultural touchstone for the community. “The Hoċokata Ṫi Fashion Show is a celebration of Indigenous creativity, artistry, and traditions,” Cornforth said, according to the SMSC's announcement. The show will also feature a performance by LOV, the stage name of Lovina Tootoosis, an Indigenous Neo-Soul and R&B singer-songwriter from the Poundmaker Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Shopping Before and After the Runway
Beyond the runway, attendees can browse a market of Native-made goods both before and after the show, including handmade jewelry, clothing, and beadwork, the SMSC says. CBS News Minnesota's coverage similarly notes the market opens at 4 p.m. and includes Native-made art and beadwork, bookending the evening's main event with opportunities to support local vendors.
Tickets are priced at $20 and available through hocokatati.org, with all proceeds benefiting Dream of Wild Health and the Boys & Girls Club of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, according to the same SMSC announcement. The evening's reception will include appetizers prepared by Native Harvest Catering, continuing a tradition the cultural center has built into each of its fashion shows.
How This Year Compares to Past Shows
This year's event follows the SMSC's second annual fashion show, held on November 21, 2025, at Hoċokata Ṫi under the theme “Ṫate: The Wind Guides Us.” That show began with a 5 p.m. welcome reception, also catered by Native Harvest Catering, and its ticket proceeds benefited a different slate of organizations: the Native American Community Clinic, Minnesota Indian Women's Research Center, Minneapolis American Indian Center, and Ain Dah Yung Center, per the SMSC's prior announcement.
Before that, Hoċokata Ṫi hosted the SMSC's first-ever fashion show in conjunction with the We Are Water MN traveling exhibit, under the theme “Water Fits All.” That inaugural event was free with required preregistration, opening with a 5 p.m. reception followed by the show at 6:15 p.m., according to Hoċokata Ṫi's own event listing. Each iteration has shifted its theme, schedule, and beneficiary organizations, but the throughline remains a showcase for Indigenous designers paired with a market supporting Native vendors.
