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Every evening Dannah Nephew sits in her living room, alongside a small table with her sewing machine. Fabric and ribbons in a variety of colors drape across her lap. Between her part-time job and full-time studies, she works diligently to create ribbon skirts for Native American students entering medical school at the University of Minnesota. 

“I’m thinking about who would be wearing this ribbon skirt and what colors they might like,” she said.  

Nephew is Ojibwe from the White Earth Nation. As a third-year student in the program, she wants to help upcoming Native American students feel welcome in an industry she says has a complicated history with tribal communities.  

“The reason why I wanted to make these ribbon skirts is to help other students have that reconnection with their cultural identity, reconnection with themselves and feeling like they belong.” 

Ribbon skirts are traditional articles of handmade clothing, often representing a symbol of resilience. Made from fabric adorned with ribbon designs, the skirts are typically worn during traditional ceremonies or celebratory gatherings in tribal communities. 

Any incoming Native medical student will be able to request a ribbon skirt. 

Nephew’s project is funded by the John Song Student Awards through the university’s Center for the Art of Medicine. The awards allow current medical students to pursue projects that are a blend of community service and artistic creation. 

Dr. Anthony Williams is the associate director for the center. He says engaging in art can be a break from the intensity of medical training, providing a chance for students to reconnect with their creativity. 

“Having a creative outlet that also serves the community can maintain a sense of personal fulfillment,” he said. 

Past awards have funded a range of projects, including podcasts centered around race and identity, program creations at youth shelters and a children’s book to teach about neurodiversity. 

“Creativity, creative outlets, the humanities, has a larger role in the practice of medicine in terms of helping us connect with our patients, helping us connect with our communities, and reducing the stress and burnout that's associated with our profession,” Williams said, emphasizing the reinforcement of identity within underrepresented communities. 

During Nephew’s undergraduate degree at the Duluth campus, she found community in an on-campus organization of Native students. She says she immersed herself in cultural activities, including ribbon skirt making. 

“I’ve found that sewing, painting and beading make me feel grounded and whole, and like myself again. It’s almost like patching up a wound on your arm. It’s that Band-Aid,” Nephew said. “I can sit here and focus and do something constructive and beautiful.” 

Nephew is currently working on a skirt that she says can represent a student’s journey through their schooling: yellow fabric, patterned with small daisies and hues of green and white satin ribbons layered on top. She says the colors replicate those of the robes one receives when graduating from medical school.  

“To whoever receives this, it could mean so many things for them,” Nephew said. She chooses colors that could have varying meanings. While the yellow and green ribbon skirt can represent graduation, it can also mean something as simple as being in nature.   

Her goal is to make at least 25 skirts by May. Nephew’s hope is that her ribbon skirts will welcome incoming students for the next three to five years. 

“Finding community right away, instead of having to look for it, I think really can start off your journey in medical school in a good way, and really encapsulate ‘mino-bimaadiziwin,’” she said, meaning “living the good life” in the Ojibwe language. 

Chandra Colvin

Author

Dannah Nephew, a member of the White Earth Nation, is working on a project to make ribbon skirts for incoming Native medical students at the University of Minnesota.

A person concentrates as they use a sewing machine

Ben Hovland | MPR News

A person sews a ribbon skirt in a sewing machine

A woman sits on a couch as she works at a sewing machine

An Indigenous medical student at the U is sewing ribbon skirts to foster community in the program

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