Rochester, N.Y. – Innovation Square was busy on Saturday afternoon as vendors set up for the second annual Native Made Market in downtown Rochester.

“We came because we’re from the Mohawk clan,” said Jacqueline Ryan. “So, we wanted to come and support other Native-owned businesses and shop around.”

The free event, which was hosted on Small Business Saturday, gave indigenous creators and business owners a chance to share their cultures with the community.

“I’m representing the Tuscarora nation that’s located outside of Niagara Falls,” said Heather Hill, the owner of Etsy store Lilmizzred. “So originally, we were not part of the original Haudenosaunee nations. We were actually part of the sixth nation that joined in from 300+ years ago. So in 1713 is when we migrated up here from North Carolina area, escaping from slavery and we [were] brought up here and we adopted the Haudenosaunee ways.”

“My heritage is Taino, which is what inspires a lot of my artwork and the Taino people were the Indigenous people of the Caribbean,” said Rosa Vargas, the owner of Art of Guake’te.

Visitors could buy a variety of handmade jewelry, art, stickers, dreamcatchers, and more at the market.

“A lot of my work has the Taino sun, the Taino frog,” said Vargas. “So a lot of the symbolism behind their petroglyphs, I put into my artwork.”

“A lot of this stuff was actually my father’s design from 20+ years ago when he did stickers,” said Hill. “Only a few years ago, I revamped up all of his old designs and redid them myself.”

Angelina Hilton founded the market more than a year ago as a small business restaurant owner.

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She said there is a gap in native representation in the area.

“This area is so rich with Indigenous heritage and history with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, but when you look around, the visibility was nearly zero,” said Hilton. “So, in order for us to increase the visibility, we thought that it’d be easier for us to bring in people instead of trying to push all the people out of Rochester to reservations and to the different communities.”

Artists said they were glad events like the market are providing a platform for them to preserve and amplify their history, art, and culture to diverse audiences.

“It’s a great opportunity to kind of let everyone know that we’re still here and that we have a lot to say and a lot to show,” said Vargas.