Bastien Industries

A longstanding Wendat manufacturer of leather and suede moccasins based in Wendake, Bastien Industries is the only Indigenous-owned and operated moccasin company in North America. The company manufactures approximately 45,000 pairs of moccasins annually.

Although Bastien Industries was only founded by Roland Bastien in 1972, the Bastien family have long been involved in moccasin manufacture in Wendake. Maurice Sébastien Agniolen established the Maurice Bastien company in 1878 as a maker of snowshoes, toboggans and moccasins, employing many local Wendat families. In 1920, his sons Maurice Bastien Jr. and Cyrille Bastien created the Bastien Brothers Company, continuing the tradition of manufacturing showshoes and moccasins, but expanding their product line to include winter boots. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the brothers’ factory, and the company relocated to nearby St-Émile. Roland Bastien, son of Cyrille, returned the company to Wendake in the 1970s, and his daughter Ginette Bastien took control in 1996, propelling the company to international recognition for its high-quality, traditional moccasins.

In 2022, Wendat businessman Jason Picard-Binet bought Bastien Industries, giving the company a contemporary rebranding, embracing digital technology, and offering fashion-forward designs alongside more traditional moccasins for men, women and children.

Although the moccasins are produced in Bastien’s Wendake factory, the lacing and beading is hand done by Wendat artisans in the surrounding area.

According to Bastien Industries’ Website, the company produces its moccasins “according to the sustainable values of Indigenous people.” The footwear is primarily made from moose and cow hides sourced from hunters, butchers and beef slaughterhouses in Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as Bastien prioritizes leathers made from food industry waste in order to use as much of the animal as possible. Hides are vegetable tanned at the Tannerie des Ruisseaux in Saint-Pascal de Kamouraska. Suede fabrics are imported from an American supplier whose environmentally conscious values align with those of Bastien Industries.

Under Picard-Binet’s leadership, Bastien Industries has collaborated with several Indigenous designers and organizations. Over the course of 2024, Bastien collaborated with Ilnu-Québécoise designer Valéry Larouche’s Mikuniss Collection, Osage artist and designer Dante Biss-Grayson’s Sky-Eagle Collection and Wendat beadwork artist Alexane Picard’s company Taourenche Beads on limited edition moccasins.

In September 2023, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Bastien released a colourful model named the Kwaweyih’ moccasin, for which 100% of the profits were donated to the New Pathways Foundation, an organization that supports First Nations youth, their education, culture and well-being.

Along with She Holds the Sky Designs, MINI TIPI, Mikuniss Collection, Matsheshu Créations, Atikuss and Jolène Robichaud Fashion Designs, Bastien Industries is a member of the Indigenous Collective, an initiative started by Picard-Binet to promote Indigenous artists and designers and address issues of cultural appropriation, representation and respectful collaboration. This collective of seven Quebec-based fashion brands presented a fashion show and conference during the 2024 edition of Montreal Fashion Week, and a fashion show at the McCord Stewart Museum during the 2025 edition.