The sound of American Indian music and the scent of herbs greet customers as they walk in the door of All Nations Native Art & Fur Co., in northwest Spokane. Beaded items, pieces of pottery, and powwow regalia fill the shelves and cover the walls, and for the most part, no two items are the same. Nothing here bears the mark, Made in China.


A cluttered crafts table sits in a room that the store uses for classes, and animal pelts hang from a rack against one wall.


I think Im one of the luckiest people to have a place like this, says Renee Mace, who owns the year-old business now located at 1611 N. Ash.


All Nations moved to its current 2,800-square-foot space early this year from a smaller space at 3007 E. Diamond, in the Hillyard area. Mace says the move gave the store increased visibility and led to more business.


The store features the paintings, pottery, beadwork, and other crafts of about 60 Native American artists from all over the United States and Canada. It sells most items on consignment. All Nations also sells furs, craft supplies such as beads and leather, and traditional herbs such as sage and sweetgrass.


A regular customer, Ernie Midkiff, a member of the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes, says its become important for Indians to be able to buy traditional herbs. They used to know where certain things would grow, but now, There could be a house there, he says.


In addition to running the store, Mace sets up booths at powwows and other Indian events around the region.


Mace is one-quarter Huron Indian, but has a Caucasian appearance. She says that with her fair skin and blond hair, she had to work to gain acceptance in the Indian community when she first opened her store.


Midkiff says of Mace, Whats in her heart puts her with us. Shes well known in Indian country.


Mace started her business after several years of making her own crafts and selling them at booths at various events. Through an acquaintance with an Indian artist, she learned that many Indians feel their creations are undervalued in the arts-and-crafts community. She says she wants All Nations to be a place that recognizes the work that goes into their creations.


Mace is the stores only employee. Six volunteers help out with the store, teach classes, and give impromptu history and cultural lessons to customers.


All Nations classes include beadworking, leather crafts, drum making, and flute lessons. People who want to take the classes can check a schedule posted at the store, or just drop by and ask. If one of the instructors happens to be on hand, a patron might get a lesson right then and there.


This is an avenue (through which) I get to provide back to the community, says Richard Snell, one of the stores volunteers. Snell is a member of the Assiniboine tribe and grew up on the tribes reservation in Montana. He was brought up with traditional Indian ways, and wants to pass along his knowledge of those ways. Many young Indians dont know about their heritage, he says.


All Nations tries to cater to two sets of consumersNative Americans, who mainly buy craft supplies, herbs, and dance regalia, and non-natives, who mostly buy artwork.


A lot of natives dont have money, Snell says, so the more expensive items generally are bought by non-native customers.


When shoppers buy something at All Nations, they get information on the artist who made the item, the artists tribe, and the meaning behind the artwork. Snell will tell them, for instance, This is a dedication to mothers.


Agnes Buckmaster, another volunteer and a member of the Upper Nicola tribe, of British Columbia, teaches classes in leather crafts and herbalism, which she learned from her grandmother. Buck-master says she donates her time to All Nations to help people make connections between bits of knowledge.


Theres lots of gaps, and Im trying to fill those gaps, she says. Mace says the store carries a few things that arent made by American Indians.


Like beads, they do come from India. You cant get around that, she says. Also, she had a lot of requests for incense, which isnt Indian-made, so she keeps some in stock. When someone buys such an item, Mace says she makes it a point to tell the customer its not made by a Native American.


For Mace, the store is a labor of love, so its appropriate that she opened the store on Valentines Day of 2001.


If I was here for money, Im in the wrong business, she says. When asked about the stores annual sales, she quipped, You think I remember? and asked one of her volunteers if he knew what they were. After digging up some numbers, he told Mace she was on track to have sales of $100,000 this year. She seemed pleasantly surprised.


Mace says her goals at All Nations are to educate young urban Indians and to provide a place for Indian artists to display and sell their crafts. Eventually, she hopes to have tribal elders from around the Spokane area come in and tell traditional stories. She wants to help some of those elders as well by starting a program called Adopt an Elder. Participants would take things like blankets, food, and herbs to shut-in people on the reservations who are often poor and lack essentials, she says.


Buckmaster and Midkiff say the store has become a place for Indians to congregate.


This gives you an environment where everyone can come and get together, Midkiff says.


Says Buckmaster, We dont have to wait for a funeral to see old friends.