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NDGNS (pronounced indigenous) BEADS N GIFTS is located at 612 Cloquet Avenue and is owned and operated by Jennifer S. Martineau. Martineau is a proud woman, native, and veteran (Dessert Storm) business. The shop showcases a variety of native artists and local bead artists. The shop also has an online platform involving auctions throughout the United States.
Martineau is an enrolled member of the Bad River Tribe of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She grew up in Duluth until age 13 when she moved to Bemidji and graduated from the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School in Cloquet. At age 19, she joined the military and actively served for eight years, sharing that the military saved her life. She had her children in the 1990s and, in the 2000s, gained college and graduate school education with an undergraduate degree in psychology from Bemidji State and a Master of Social Work graduate degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. By day, Jennifer is a licensed clinical social worker and hypnotherapist in the behavioral and mental health field.
Martineau started her business after her mother's death, opening as an online business via a Facebook page in 2013. In 2018, she moved back to Cloquet to be closer to her father, who was sick. She was a vendor at pow-wows and vends at pow-wows all over the Midwest. She has a toy hauler with a walk-in shop.
Opening this storefront has been her dream.
"This is my happy place; my daughter helped me set up this store," Jennifer shared.
The vision for NDGNS BEADS N GIFTS is family community-based. The closest bead store is in Bemidji or the Twin Cities; people are driving hours away to get to this store.
"This store is a place to express culture, to be seen and heard, appreciated, and acknowledged," said Jennifer
NDGNS BEADS N GIFTS
Jennifer S. Martineau
612 Cloquet Avenue
Cloquet, MN 55720
Phone: 218-760-6789
Facebook: Click Here
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