The brightly lit spaces inside Pioneer Square’s Metropole last week bustled with elaborate decorations, handcrafted jewelry, opulent artwork, and good grub.

The nonprofit center for communities of color hosted Tradewinds, a Native Artisan Marketplace, featuring contemporary Indigenous artisan vendors, Indigenous food, beadwork, and wellness activities.

“This event is really an exercise to bring together our relatives, share our Indigenous food, and support our different vendors,” said Lisa Fruichantie, executive director of Na’ah Illahee Fund, a United Way-supported organization housed inside Metropole. “Those working in food sovereignty, they’re able to not only bring in fresh food to eat but also food for purchase.”

Tradewinds brought together United Way-supported grantees from our Indigenous Communities Fund, including Na’ah Illahee Fund, Native American Women’s Dialogue on Infant Mortality, Northwest Justice Project, and Chief Seattle Club. United Way launched the fund in 2020, and since then, we’ve granted about $5 million to local groups to address many needs in King County’s Indigenous Communities. To read more about our Indigenous Communities Fund, click here.

“It’s a wonderful community gathering in the context of art; we’re supporting local businesses,” said Marlo Klein, United Way’s senior impact manager who leads our Indigenous Communities Fund.

Tradewinds was also held in conjunction with the adjacent Pioneer Square First Thursdays Art Walk, which, according to PioneerSquare.org, was established in the 1960s and is the nation’s longest-running art walk. Each event complemented the other as patrons moved back and forth between the Art Walk outdoors and the Artisan Marketplace indoors.

“We are grateful to be hosting here inside the Metropole building, which we are a tenant of,” added Fruichantie. “With that, we host [Tradewinds] three times out of the year, so this is our Pride Month celebration. We get an opportunity to uplift our Indigenous queer and Two-Spirit relatives in the process and celebrate Pride along with the rest of the City of Seattle.”

To learn more about upcoming United Way events, click here.