6 years ago, we created our first batch of our Pioneer line of yarn. This was a momentous occasion for us as it was our first farm yarn - and it was the beginning of our collaboration with textile-farmer Sally Fox. We named this yarn Pioneer due to Sally’s innovative and progressive farming practices as she practices organic and bio-dynamic farming, and her commitment to raising naturally colored wool and cotton in alignment with the health of the Earth.
Today, we are changing the name of Pioneer to Horizon. Unfortunately, the name Pioneer is problematic and has negative colonialistic connotations that we would like to avoid and not associate with such an amazing yarn. Though originally trying to convey the innovative spirit of the farmer, the name Pioneer can be seen as a glorification of the atrocities white settlers afflicted against Native Americans.
We hold ourselves accountable for the name existing for the last six years and take full responsibility for any harm this has caused our beautiful community. We are grateful to be called in to make this name change. We believe it is a good change that was overdue. Our action of changing the name of the yarn to Horizon literally overnight, we hope reflects our commitment to marginalized communities affected by systemic racism.
We are part of an incredible community at Verb and want to be respectful of the indigenous populations within our community and beyond. We feel this is more in line with our mission statement. We hope you understand and join us in the commitment to make a more equitable industry.
We want to humbly say that we are prone to make mistakes as any human and we are open to listening to constructive and productive criticism from marginalized communities regarding our work without anger and defensiveness. As members of marginalized communities we understand the full impact this can have and we will make every effort to be mindful and proactive to making our work as full of love and compassion as possible.
Our yarn Horizon will maintain the original integrity and quality of Pioneer with a name that embodies a more complete story illustrating our aspiration as a company to making the world better for everyone through textiles.
We hope you will support us through this transition and update and use the hashtag #avfkwhorizon for your past and future projects.
-- Kristine, Adrienne, and Sarah