REPUBLIC
WLM | art
By June Johnston
Images courtesy White Buffalo Republic
a Way of Life
of [our products] is to take people that have all these
skills and get them access to the world market,” James
says. “A lot of these guys were saddle makers, leather
workers. [T]hey are losing their occupations, like we
have in the U.S., to cheaply made products from China.
It’s kinda put those folks out of business. [W]hat we’ve
done is tried to preserve their way of life, along with
instilling within them the idea of putting a lot of pride
in your work and understanding that when they make
something it might end up in the US or Germany,
Norway, Japan, etc.
“I think they now have a lot of pride in seeing where
their handiwork goes,” James adds, “and are learning