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Many mining operations are run by giant corporations, rarely by small independent, Indigenous-owned businesses. Beth and Tracy Day Chief are bucking that trend by acquiring ammolite jewellery company Korite — something Beth sees as a full circle moment.
Ammolite, Alberta’s official gemstone, comes from the ammonite fossil, a finite resource found only in southern Alberta on Indigenous reserves. Through their company, Buffalo Rock Mining, the Day Chiefs acquired Korite in late 2024, bringing the ammolite producer under Indigenous ownership and honouring ammolite’s heritage and cultural significance for the Blackfoot people.
“It’s hard to explain, but it’s really difficult for Indigenous people, Indigenous entrepreneurs to break out into a place off your reserve,” says Beth. “We’re limited within treaties, with our status, what we can do off the reserve through the Indian Act, especially financially. For us to be one of the first people that have acquired a company such as this that deals internationally, it’s a big story.”
The couple from Kainai Nation have decades of construction and ammonite mining experience thanks to their entrepreneurial spirit. In 1989, they founded Chiefs Construction when a large project proposal for installing irrigation lines on their reserve was announced. They started the small construction business with a single gravel truck in response. The project started in 1991 and while it was underway, the Day Chief’s business continued to expand.
“You always have to look out for what opportunities are coming out for your business,” says Beth.
Since acquiring the company, the Day Chiefs have appointed a new president and launched the sale of Korite’s finished jewellery on Taobao, Asia’s largest online marketplace, expanding Alberta’s ammolite jewellery and products to a broader global audience.
“We’ve paid our dues in this and we [are] hands on,” says Tracy. “We’re not just going to sit around and expect people to run the company. We have to know everything about this trade to control [our] company.”