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ENTERPRISE - For 24 years, Winnie Cadieux has been selling Dene arts and crafts in Enterprise.

Today, she owns and operates Winnie's Dene Art Gallery and Gift Shop.

All of the pieces of aboriginal art and fine crafts in the store are bought directly from the creators.

Winnie Cadieux: 24 years of selling Dene arts and crafts in Enterprise. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"Everything from beaded necklaces and earrings to moosehide vests and gloves," Cadieux said.

She began selling Dene crafts when she was co-owner of what was then known as Enterprise Esso.

Back then, several ladies came into the service station and asked if they could sell their crafts, so Cadieux set up a small display case.

"Then some of the truckers started to ask if we could get moccasins and mukluks made," she said.

The display was expanded and eventually a tire shop was converted into the gift store.

Cadieux said she buys product from all over the NWT and even from the Dene Tha' in High Level and Assumption, Alta.

"I'd say I've got something in there from every region of the North," she said.

Cadieux said sellers usually bring arts and crafts to her and often ask what she is looking for, such as items to fill a special order.

In all, she estimated she deals with 40-50 artisans around the NWT.

"One of the newest things we're got in there is traditional dog whips," she noted. "They're made in the Sahtu and they're awesome."

Over the years, Cadieux has been putting together a collection of some notable crafts, many of them by elders, including moccasins, gloves, tuftings and traditional dolls.

Later this summer, she plans to put the special collection in a display case for people to see, although they won't be for sale.

Cadieux said her store has a large customer base throughout the NWT.

"People drop in to buy wedding presents, anniversary gifts and special occasion things," she said. "I have a real good inter-community trade."

Cadieux said her business is divided about half-and-half between NWT residents and tourists, who drop in during the summer months.

"I love the interaction with people," she said of running the store.

Tourists often comment on the unique smell created by the smoked moosehide used to create many crafts, she noted. "It surprises me how many tourists love that smell."

Cadieux, a former Enterprise mayor and current hamlet councillor who has lived in the North since 1971, said she enjoys being around the Dene crafts.

"The product is beautiful," she said.

Cadieux, 57, said she was first introduced to Dene arts by the sewing of her mother-in-law Mary Cadieux, who is originally from the Sahtu.

"I would use her work for a standard for what I would purchase," she said.