b'MICROBREWERIESbest to put them out into the world inThe threesomes passion for brewingIn addition to becoming trailblazers for a good way.and community came together inIndigenous brewing, Kahnawake Brewing Kahnawake Brewing Company, aended up being instrumental in the devel-To date, Red Tape Brewery is one ofmicrobrewery producing an exten- opment of local laws governing brewing only a handful of Indigenous ownedsive selection of craft beer. It wasnton traditional territoriesa process that and operated breweries in Canada an easy start. One of the challengestook a year and a half of working with their something Sarabeth is incredibly proudthat faced the co-founders off thecouncil and the provinces liquor board. of. Establishing Indigenous represen- bat was the lack of regulations for tation in non-traditional spaces is notbrewing beer on First Nations terri- We were fortunate enough to work with just a step toward business success, shetory in Quebec. As a result, the venturethe Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and says, but a step toward true reconcili- required much concerted effort andthe Alcoholic Beverages Control Board ation. As we look at and create thesehard work, and took almost two yearsin creating the laws we have today, Deer spaces where Indigenous people areto get off the ground.This [was]says. It was a long year-and-a-half for us, present, [Canadians] get to see that theresomething that hadnt been triedbut it was a great experience to be part are Indigenous people doing different[before], saysLeblanc.of history within our community. things, she notes.While small in number, Indigenous brew-eries have not only produced world-class beer, but products that tell their stories. This fusion of tradition, modernity and a growing recognition of their place in the industry underscores the rich-ness inherent in Indigenous breweries and wineries. Within this vibrant market, Sean and Sarabeth Holden have found room for their own innovative brewery business, and they are just getting started. AN INDIGENOUS FIRSTThe Kahnaw:ke Mohawk Territory looks across the St. Lawrence River to Montreal to the north. It is one of several self-governing territories that make up the greater Mohawk Nation in Ontario and Quebec. Inside this historic community is a trailblazing business that recently celebrated a significant milestone: the five-year anniversary of the Kahnawake Brewing Company.The company, say its founders, is one of the first Indigenous-owned microbrew-eries on First Nations territory in Canada. It served its first pint on Saint Patricks Day in 2018, and its come a long way since then.The brewery was the brainchild of Matthew Deer, Drew Stevens and Brooklyn Leblanc, a group of friends who loved craft beer and came up with the idea to start their own brewery in 2016. The three set out to change thebeer landscape in their community after seeing their friends regularly buying mass-produced beer. That money was going to hugeinterna-tional corporations thatprobablydont even know where or what Kahnawake is, Stevens says of their decision.Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT 31'