Supporting Each Other by Cody James Houle

Shopping in Canada for the Supporting Each Other fabric collection by Cody James Houle for International Textiles is easy in the Along Came Quilting online store!

Supporting Each Other by Cody James Houle is a powerful Indigenous fabric collection centered on unity, protection, and collective strength. The central Thunderbird—formed through mirrored shapes and flowing lines—represents a return to culture, tradition, and ancestral knowledge, symbolizing strength, guidance, and spiritual power within Indigenous communities.

The smaller surrounding birds reflect the flocks commonly seen in nature and frequently appear in Houle’s work. Together, they represent community, movement, and mutual support—each bird relying on the others as they travel forward. Their presence reinforces the core message of the design: supporting one another through shared paths and collective care. Circular elements within the composition echo cycles of life, continuity, and the enduring connections between people, land, and spirit.

Rendered in Cody James Houle’s contemporary Woodland–inspired style, the artwork blends bold black linework with vibrant, meaningful color palettes. This strong visual language makes Supporting Each Other well-suited for Indigenous fashion and textile projects, including regalia-inspired garments, contemporary apparel, accessories, and community-based creations.

Cody James Houle (he/him) is an Anishinaabe/French artist based out of Brantford. Houle’s family ancestry are Anishinaabe from Saugeen First Nations. Houle was raised in the small military city of North Bay, Ontario. In his youth he was immersed in intergenerational trauma. His family had been disenfranchised, and his father, as a child, had been displaced by the Children’s Aid Society. As a result, his father suffered from a lifetime of substance abuse, and Houle grew up in an unsafe environment. Houle had to generate his own sense of security and survived through a deeply intimate connection to nature and a motivated desire to create something meaningful in this life.