There's never been a brand like tribally-owned Eighth Generation!

Eighth Generation is a Seattle-based art and lifestyle brand owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe. It was founded in 2008 by artist, activist, and educator Louie Gong (Nooksack), and was purchased by the Snoqualmie Tribe in 2019—making them the first tribe to own a lifestyle brand. As the the first Native-owned company to ever produce Native-designed wool blankets, Eighth Generation is a proud participant in the global economy.

Eighth Generation provides a strong, ethical alternative to “Native-inspired” art and products through our artist-centric approach and 100% Native designed products. We are reclaiming a market that has been dominated by non-Native companies using stolen and fake “Native-inspired” designs by investing in Native creativity, capacity, entrepreneurship, and values. Through our Inspired Natives® Project, which is anchored by the tagline “Inspired Natives®, not Native-inspired,” we build business capacity among cultural artists while addressing the economic impact of cultural appropriation. 

In 2015, Eighth Generation became the first Native-owned business in the US or Canada to sell Native-designed wool blankets, reclaiming a market that had been dominated by non-Native companies using fake "Native-inspired" designs for over a century. That same year, Louie and several important community members, including Colleen Echohawk, presented before the Pike Place Market board to discuss the critical importance of having a Native-owned business in Pike Place Market. We opened our flagship store in the Market in 2016, quickly becoming a beloved fixture in the neighborhood. 

We launched our own made-in-house Gold Label Collection of wool textiles in 2020—another first for a Native-owned business. In 2022, Louie stepped down as CEO (although he remains an Inspired Natives® Collaborator), and we were joined by Colleen Echohawk (Pawnee, Athabaskan) as our new CEO. In 2023, we moved our flagship store to a large, sun-drenched space just across the street from Pike Place Market—staying in the bustling Downtown Seattle neighborhood while gaining valuable square footage to showcase all our new designs.