On a crisp November morning in Rochester, the doors of the annual Native Made Market will once again swing open, and the room will hum with voices, laughter, drums, rattles and the quiet shuffle of footsteps across wooden floors. For founder Angelina Marie Hilton, the annual event, which returns on Saturday, Nov. 29 for year four, is more than a market — it’s a living archive of Indigenous creativity, a space where stories, skills and traditions converge. Each handcrafted piece and conversation is a thread in a larger tapestry of belonging and intergenerational healing.
Hilton is an enrolled member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska as well as a descendant of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and she channels her identity into every project she leads.
“I grew up in a mostly white suburb,” she said. “I was assimilating without realizing it. I was teased for being Indigenous, so I stopped sharing this piece of my identity.”
That early invisibility didn’t stop her. In 2007, she graduated from the Art Institute of California in San Diego with a degree in advertising and was recognized as one of the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Minorities. Since then, she’s built a career across publishing, design, advertising, sales and marketing, working with organizations such as Gannett’s “Democrat and Chronicle” in Rochester, Semify, several small businesses and her own entrepreneurial ventures.
The birth of a cultural marketplace
“Native Made started because we needed to feed people,” Hilton said.
At the time, she and her husband ran a small restaurant in Rochester, offering free meals every fourth Friday of the month. Then came Native American Heritage Day in November 2022; when Hilton realized there were no Native restaurants, shops or galleries.
“This community is so rich and diverse,” she said, “it didn’t make sense that these spaces didn’t exist.”
The first Native Made Market launched on Small Business Saturday in 2022.
“There was a flow of people,” Hilton recalled. “I had to be brave — being Indigenous, I knew I had to step up.”
The market grew fast, moving to Innovation Square in 2023, then High Falls in 2024. This year, it will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 29 at Eisenhart Auditorium in collaboration with the Rochester Museum & Science Center, on Gasgo’sagö:h on Onödowa’ga:’ land.
Native Made is about more than buying and selling, it’s about connecting. Hilton brings together artists, storytellers, educators and allies for craft stations, guest speakers and performances. Participants have included artists like David Farnham, Isaac Dalimonte, Faye Lone and Allan and Gabriella Jamieson alongside organizations such as Indigenous Peoples Day ROC NY, Common Ground Health and Our Voices Project.
Each event opens with a Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address and land acknowledgment, to ground attendees in respect, awareness and what Hilton calls “a good mind.” Accessibility is key: sign language interpretation and livestreamed sessions ensure participation for all.
“We provide a space for people to share,” she said. “This journey has brought me closer to the community and for everyone who attends, the connection is personal.”
Hilton’s work runs deep, across generations of her own family.
“I didn’t understand intergenerational trauma until after my child was born,” she said. “My grandmother never spoke about residential schools. As I learned what had happened, it began to make sense. I realized why I resisted institutionalization all along. I’m still processing that unspoken truth. This is trauma.”
Healing happens in unexpected ways; Hilton sends feedback forms to every attendee, performer and vendor.
“Native Made was born to heal wounds that run deep: intergenerational trauma, grief, loss, shame,” she said. “Suicide, drugs, abuse—they’re all part of the trauma we navigate. But when we gather, something shifts. We witness life being reclaimed.”
Fashion as storytelling
Hilton channels that same healing ethos into fashion.
“One of the first shows I (modeled in) was Syracuse Fashion Week,” she said. “There’s always a fear in putting myself out there, especially after the shame I experienced growing up. Our mission at Native Made is to increase Indigenous visibility, so it felt necessary to participate. If I didn’t step up and represent, who would?”
Through modeling for Indigenous designers (including Mary Homer, who later became a Native Made vendor), Hilton connects self-expression, representation and community empowerment — as well as leading by example for the next generation.
“Indigenous people are the minority in this land, yet we were the original peoples,” she said. “I want kids to grow up as the most authentic version of themselves, proud of who they are and feeling part of a community.”
She worries about AI, environmental extraction and land disputes, yet remains resolute. And from once hiding her heritage to now leading transformative initiatives through Native Made, fashion and advocacy, Hilton is nurturing a generation of voices ready to shape the future.
“Our Creator is a creator,” she said. “I want the youth to feel empowered to create, to learn with elders, and to feel confident and supported.”
Signs of change inspire her: School libraries now stock Indigenous authors. Marvel’s “What If…?” introduced a Mohawk-speaking superhero, Kahhori, developed with the Mohawk Nation for cultural authenticity.
“We must always think about the next seven generations,” Hilton said. “My (own) children garden, join the White Corn Project and dance at Indigenous Peoples Day — they carry it back to their communities. That is something I did not have growing up.” nativemadehq.com/2025-native-made-market
