Kahkewistahâw First Nation

community development reaches new levels

Kahkewistahâw is a First Nation of just over 2,000 members, with a home reserve in Treaty 4 about 170km east of Regina along the Qu’Appelle Valley. Chief Evan Taypotat and his team approached us to develop some branding for Kahkewistahâw Economic Management Corporation and a newly acquired property in Saskatoon, which we branded Kahkewistahâw Landing.

Community is at the centre of everything this First Nation does – we developed visuals and a colour story that were inspired and grounded in the original KFN logo as this connection was important to leadership. We wanted to give them a formula they could apply to additional businesses within their development suite, and to those acquired in the future.

Another important part of the Kahkewistahâw suite is the reclamation of Cree language through the use of Cree names and syllabics. The shape of these syllabics influenced our font choices and overall design aesthetic.

Kahkewistahâw needed tools that would both help leadership communicate to their members about their economic development initiatives, and help share their story with potential investors and partners. Once we solidified the branding, we applied it to a suite of tools (letterhead, business cards, and a descriptive PowerPoint presentation).

Kahkewistahâw Landing is a very exciting acquisition for KFN. They see the 40-acre property, located near the airport in Saskatoon, as “A Gathering Place”, one that will eventually act as home to a gas station/convenience store, restaurant, sports and training facility, entertainment venue, hotel and conference centre and an Indigenous business development hub. In order to communicate the potential of Kahkewistahâw Landing to potential partners and investors (and community members!), we developed a brochure that introduced KFN, and detailed the property and surrounding area – all in line with leadership’s strong vision and goals.