Welcome to the very first blog on Blueberry Moon.
This website was created to fill a gap that many of us working in Indigenous communications, marketing, and business have experienced for years: the lack of authentic Indigenous representation in business-to-business marketing and branding.
As the President of Saltmedia, an Indigenous-owned web design and marketing firm, I’ve spent years helping organizations tell their stories. Along the way, I kept running into the same challenge. When we needed Indigenous images, stock photography, artwork, or visual content, it was often difficult to find authentic representations of Indigenous people and communities.
Too often, Indigenous Peoples are missing from the images used to represent diversity in Canada. We see broad representations of multiculturalism, but Indigenous voices and faces are frequently absent or represented through stereotypes. Sometimes, it can feel as though we’re invisible.
Blueberry Moon began with a simple question: What would it look like to create a safe, trusted place where Indigenous artists, photographers, and creators could share their work while helping organizations represent Indigenous Peoples authentically?
The Beginning of an Idea
The idea first started many years ago.
As our team worked with Indigenous Nations, Indigenous organizations, governments, and businesses, we saw a growing need for authentic visual content. There are many talented Indigenous photographers, artists, filmmakers, musicians, and storytellers across Turtle Island. The challenge was not a lack of talent. The challenge was finding a centralized place where buyers and creators could connect in a respectful and trustworthy way.
Licensing Indigenous artwork and photography can be complicated. Questions about permissions, cultural protocols, ownership, and appropriate use often arise. In some cases, images from ceremonies, cultural gatherings, or community events have been used without proper context or permission.
We believed there had to be a better way.
We envisioned a platform where Indigenous creators can maintain ownership of their work. A place where organizations can purchase and use Indigenous content with confidence. A community that supports both creators and buyers while advancing reconciliation through authentic representation.
The Long Journey
Like many Indigenous business ideas, Blueberry Moon didn’t appear overnight.
I first pitched the concept through the Pow Wow Pitch in 2021. I believed in the idea and hoped someone might see its potential and help bring it to life. While I didn’t receive the support I was hoping for at the time, the idea stayed with me.
In 2022, I enrolled in Simon Fraser University’s Master of Business Administration program specializing in Indigenous Business Leadership. That experience changed my life.
During the program, I met two incredible people who would become important partners in this journey: Justin and Marteena.
Justin had been exploring similar ideas and brought deep thinking, research experience, and a passion for Indigenous innovation. Marteena was an exceptional teammate whose encouragement and support helped move the vision forward.
Together, our conversations continued long after graduation.
Our master’s work explored important questions about Indigenous entrepreneurship, Indigenous technology, and what a decolonized business could look like. Blueberry Moon can become more than a stock photography platform. It can be an opportunity to explore Indigenous business philosophies and create something grounded in community, reciprocity, and relationship.
Building the First Phase
After graduation, Justin and I continued developing the concept.
Through a Mitacs research partnership involving Justin, IT Horizons, Simon Fraser University, and our faculty support network, we secured funding that allowed us to begin building the first version of Blueberry Moon.
That funding helped create the website you see today.
It’s still early in our journey, but every business starts somewhere.
We’ve also been fortunate to receive support through intellectual property funding programs, allowing us to explore training opportunities for Indigenous artists, governments, businesses, and organizations. Our goal is to support respectful use of Indigenous artwork while helping creators understand licensing, intellectual property, and commercial opportunities.
We know there will be challenges.
There will be questions without clear answers. Different communities may have different perspectives. We don’t claim to have all the answers.
What we can promise is that we’ll approach this work with humility, curiosity, and a commitment to learning.
More Than a Marketplace
Blueberry Moon is not simply a stock photography website.
It represents three ideas coming together.
First, it’s a place for Indigenous artists and creators to grow, connect, and thrive.
Second, it’s a safe and trusted place for organizations to access Indigenous artwork and photography in a respectful and ethical way.
Third, it’s an opportunity to put Indigenous business principles into practice.
For me, personally, it’s also the intersection of two lifelong passions: art and technology.
I’ve always been an artist. Like many artists, I grew up hearing that creative careers were difficult paths to follow. That reality led me into technology and business, careers that have been rewarding in their own ways.
For the last sixteen years, Saltmedia has allowed me to bring together creativity, communications, design, and technology. Blueberry Moon feels like the next step in that journey.
Looking Forward
If there’s one lesson this project has taught me, it’s that some ideas take time.
Sometimes years, or even decades.
Ideas grow through relationships, conversations, setbacks, education, partnerships, and persistence. Blueberry Moon is the result of all those things.
Today, we launch this first blog with gratitude for everyone who helped us get here and excitement for what comes next.
Whether you’re an Indigenous artist, a photographer, a business, a government organization, or simply someone who believes authentic representation matters, we welcome you.
This is only the beginning.
Miigwetch. Thank you for being part of the journey.