Onquata: Paddles to reconnect with one's roots.
Three years ago, Lara Sioui and her mother intended to decorate their family cottage. They painted a canoe paddle to hang on the wall... and thus Onquata was born, a company that sells paddles decorated according to Huron-Wendat traditions across Canada, the United States, and Europe.
"When we saw the result, we decided to sell several for the Wendake community," says Lara. "Then everyone really liked the product, so we decided to distribute it on a large scale."
Even though she holds a management position within the family business Éconobois, the 30-year-old finds time to make her project flourish. Growth is so rapid that production can't keep up. While Onquata sold 200 paddles in its first year of existence in 2017, the company has sold nearly 4000 since.
"The next project is to acquire land in Wendake to build a workshop-boutique there," says the entrepreneur. "We want to structure our activities in this boutique and create craft workshops according to our traditions."
For Lara, relocating the company is out of the question. Remaining in Wendake and offering jobs there is an absolute priority.
"This is my reserve, this is my community, my world, this is where I want to work," she affirms with confidence. "We always hope to hire people from the community; it's very important to me."
Don't think these paddles are strictly decorative. According to Lara, they are also a beautiful symbol for building bridges between Indigenous communities and other nations.
"We would like to highlight the artistic craft aspect of our community and show it to the world," she concludes.