The BakerTwins Blog

They are pinning their proud past up on walls all over the world in their self-produced 2009 calendar that features a pair of local girls from back in their old neighbourhood.

Christine Charlie and Tamara Ketlo are not professional models, but they were exactly the kind of women the Baker twins wanted to profile in their BT Girls - Beautiful and Talented - North American Women’s Calendar.

“We were born in Prince George but we were raised in Fraser Lake,” Shauna Baker told The Citizen in a conversation on Sunday. “We moved around a lot, we lived in Merritt and Nanaimo too, but for the most part we always moved back to Fraser Lake.”

Specifically, home was the Stellat’en First Nation’s Stellako Reserve, and still is when they are back with family as they are now for the holidays. Most of the time they now reside in Vancouver where they base one of the hottest modelling careers, times two, in the nation.

The two have been a double force in international media over the last few years. This year they were on the red carpet at the Gemini Awards, on the runway at the L’OrÈal Fashion Week extravaganza, celebrity guests at B.C. Fashion Week, they have had cover stories in a number of magazines, an interview on CBC Radio and a couple of TV talk shows, and their biggest exposure was a feature interview on the Tyra Banks Show where the supermodel-turned-TV host had them on to talk about racism in Hollywood from the perspective of First Nations celebrities.

On the show the Bakers talked about facing in show business the same stereotypes they dealt with growing up: that Indians are drunks, uneducated, live on the street, don’t exude success in life. Not long after their appearance with Banks they conceived of the BT Girls - Beautiful and Talented concept.

“We started the project because in the media they only portray First Nations people in a negative stereotype,” Baker said. “We wanted to do something to show that there are normal First Nations girls out there. We blogged about it on our website, we thought of the calendar, the girls applied online, and we kind of went through the applications - we had 350 applicants - we had to weave through them all and do interviews and we selected a great group, I think. They all live healthy and positive lifestyles, and they are all role models. One is training to be a police officer, one is a nurse, one is a welder, so they are all pursuing their dreams.”

The Bakers imbedded a couple of celebrity friends in the calendar mix, just to add some audience appeal. Pop rocker Kinnie Starr (of Mohawk ancestry) and hip hop performer Eekwol (Plains Cree) join the 10 others who come from all over the continent and from all over the occupational map as well. One of them is Inez Jasper (Sto:lo, Ojibwe and Metis) from Chilliwack who recently won a $10,000 contest as Canada’s top aboriginal role model. Jasper was featured in the latest edition of RezX Magazine, an edition that coincidentally had the Baker twins all over the cover.

“Every year we get asked to do a collaboration calendar with different models and for different companies,” Bakers said. “We remember what it was like to want to be a model and how impossible that dream seemed to be. The world doesn’t realize how many beautiful and talented Native Women there are in this world. First Nations people may not account for a large population of Turtle Island, but we do exist.

Each week we receive emails from aspiring models that expresses her desire to want to become a model. If we are going to do any type of collaboration we are first going to do it with our own people.”

They are working primarily with aboriginal people in their next project, too. On Jan. 18 they begin shooting a pilot for a television show entitled Tales of an Urban Indian with notable First Nations actors Graham Greene, Darrell Dennis and others.

They are also slated for a role in the upcoming Hollywood feature Trail of Tears which begins filming in April in Los Angeles. Before that, they are off to Thailand and Singapore for modeling gigs early in the new year.

The BT Girls calendar is available now in Prince George at Angelique’s Native Arts and at Kumbayaz Native Arts.

Stores can order a supply of the calendars care of Emma Baker, Box 458, Fraser Lake, BC, V0J 1S0 or online at info@thebakertwins.com.

Role Model
Written by Frank Peebles
Prince George Citizen Newspaper Page 2 of 2
Sunday, December 28th, 2008

The BT initials have a double meaning, standing both for Baker Twins (the famous Canadian models/actors who happen to come from Fraser Lake) and for Beautiful and Talented, their movement to promote positive aboriginal women. Their calendar features hand-picked women they believe to be role models in their home communities and for all young, aboriginal people across North America.

Among the 12 women from Canada and the U.S. the Bakers spotlighted in the calendar are Charlie and Ketlo, who both reside in the Central Interior. Charlie lives on the Stellako Reserve at Fraser Lake and is a member of the Stellat’en First Nation while Ketlo is from the Nadleh Whut’en Band in Fort Fraser.

“Shannon and I both wanted a couple of girls from around our area,” said Shauna Baker. “People don’t realize that we have a lot of beauty from our home town, but we picked those particular two because Tamara is a welder for a living and Christine is a fisheries technician. They are both living healthy lives, they are bright and good people, they are perfect for role modelling those values. I remember when we were young, we were encouraged by society to live inside the box, live in your comfort zone, pursue the most realistic things, but you can achieve so much more if you get out in the world and see the opportunities and reach for your dreams.”

This attitude has made the Bakers into some of the most famous models on any runway in the world. They have been featured on the Tyra Banks Show, an episode of Smallville, and the first three months of 2009 has them skipping between Los Angeles, Singapore, Thailand and Vancouver for television, movie and modelling projects.

“They actually live just down the street from me,” said Charlie, acknowledging that the Bakers were some of those role models in her own life. “They are a few years older. We had a few classes together in school: drama and band and photography. I knew them pretty well considering I was a bit younger so our friends were in different circles, but we grew closer as we got older.”

It wasn’t a modelling or an acting career that Charlie chose, it was a profession in the place she loved the most: the great outdoors. She went to Malaspina University and got certificates in for fisheries technologist and environmental monitoring. She is near completion on a whitewater rafting guide certification, and she has plans for more post-secondary education. She knows these pursuits were what caught the attention of her childhood acquaintances when she applied online to be in the mentorship calendar.

“I feel the same way, very strongly (about realistic aboriginal imaging),” Charlie, 23, told The Citizen. “I think the calendar will inspire young women, and young aboriginal women - that there is a huge horizon of opportunities in life. It feels great to be a role model for aboriginal youth. It is important to know people in your community you can look up to, just as I look up to (the Bakers) for all they have accomplished in their young lives.”

Charlie and Ketlo are a one-two punch in the Central Interior. Ketlo’s boyfriend is Charlie’s brother, so the two know each other well. They happened to be together in Vancouver earlier in the year when the Bakers gave them a bonus. The famous twins were the stars of a photo shoot for Artifaax Clothing while Ketlo was in town for her calendar photo shoot, fellow BT Girl Madeline McCallum was available, and coincidentally Charlie was there for a conference. The Bakers brought them all in on the glamourous apparel shoot with them.

The conference was unrelated to being a BT Girl, but it was directly related to Charlie’s character and emerging leadership role. It was an aboriginal education symposium and she was a guest speaker.

“I spoke about the certificates I’ve obtained and how those are stepping stones to where I want to go in life, and how education is the path to where you want to go in life,” she said. “I was nervous. There was over 850 people there, but I didn’t stutter, I got through it well.”

She is getting through the jitters of being a pin-up girl as well, albeit a positive, holistic one not the kind for whom that term usually applies. She said it was a strange but fun feeling to walk into offices in her home town and see her calendar page tacked onto the wall even though her image isn’t due until next October.

“Tamara and I were really stoked when we got our copies. We were amazed how the final photos turned out,” Charlie said.

They encourage people to go pick up their own copies for 2009 and support a local venture aimed at building local community. It is available in Prince George at Kumbayaz Native Arts and Angelique’s Native Arts.