Ts’u Ghāy Sewing Studio
Ts’u Ghāy Sewing Studio
This is a youth-led initiative to build a studio for an existing collective of CAFN citizens, where they will create, market, and sell local clothing and teach their skills to other community members. Sha Shäw is providing the land, building, and business development support to get this initiative off the ground.
Project progress overview
The project is on-track for a grand opening in Spring 2026.
Earlier in 2025 Sha Shäw purchased land on the Alaska Highway off Jacquot Street (lots 199 and 201) and secured project funding. After developing architectural renderings and building design with the collective members, we ordered a modular building from Millenium Homes out of Kelowna. That building arrived September 8.
We spent the fall adding an exterior façade to give the building the look of a traditional structure, and a deck. We hope to complete that work this year, but depending on the weather may need to wait until spring to complete everything. In the meantime the collective is starting to move in, ordering the shelving and equipment they’ll need to complete their new manufacturing space.
What will the studio do?
At 1,782 square feet the building has plenty of space for the collective’s vision – a space where they will make high-quality local clothing on industrial sewing machines.
Now that they are in the space the collective members are starting to make decisions about the specific products they’ll make, at least initially – considering parkas, wool and waxed canvas jackets, mittens, drum bags, tote bags, hats, or other products.
The studio will also serve as a classroom where other community members can learn the craft. There may also be a tourism element, with visitors invited to come by and experience local creation.
Photo caption: Ts’u Ghāy Sewing Studio under construction (January 2026), located at 199 Alaska HIghway at the corner of Jaquot Street and the Alaska Highway
Building Ts’u Ghāy: From Spruce Roots to Structure
This video series documents the construction of the Ts’u Ghāy Sewing Studio—from concept and cultural inspiration to logs in the ground. The videos highlight the people, skills, and decisions that shaped the building, grounding the project in both traditional knowledge and contemporary community-led development.
This video series was produced in part with support from the United Church of Canada’s Healing Fund and Telus, whose contribution helped make it possible to document and share this important part of the Ts’u Ghāy story.
Video 3: We’re grateful to Harold Johnson, owner of Long Ago People’s Place, for sharing the story and meaning behind the facade design of the Ts’u Ghāy Sewing Studio. As Harold explains in this video, the upright, fire-treated logs reflect the traditional structures used by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations people for thousands of years. The facade is intentionally eye-catching, anchoring the building in place, history, and continuity along the Alaska Highway. If you’d like to learn more about traditional CAFN structures and ways of living, visit Harold at Long Ago People’s Place in Champagne, Yukon, or stop by the Da Kų Cultural Centre in Haines Junction.
Video 2: Before the first stitch is sewn, the groundwork has to be done — and we’re proud to have Castle Rock Enterprises, owned by Dakwakada Capital Investments, leading the way on the water and sewer installation.
Video 1: We’ve put together a three-minute video with an update on the Ts’u Ghāy Sewing Studio and Collective - one of several projects we have underway.
The Collective is a group of young people, Champagne and Aishihik First Nations citizens, who have studied industrial sewing techniques and will be putting that to work crafting high-quality locally-made clothing - like parkas, mittens, hats, and more. The site has been cleared, and a modular building is being built now. We are adding a facade that will make the building look like a smoke house, with linear logs running along the building, plus sidewalks and a deck.