First Nations teen Indigenizes Edmonton Elks team logo for orange T-shirt
CBC
A First Nations student has re-designed the Edmonton Elks logo for an orange T-shirt raising awareness of residential schools, with proceeds going to sports programs for Indigenous youth.
Izaiah Masuskapoe, 14, from Ocean Man First Nation in Saskatchewan, is in Grade 9 at St. Thomas More junior high in Edmonton.
"I noticed the B.C. Lions had the [Indigenous-themed] logo and the shirts, and everyone was wearing them," he said.
He thought it would be great if Edmonton's CFL team also had its own Every Child Matters T-shirt.
"I just thought of it in my head and drew it. It took me like an hour," he said.
Among other flourishes, he added an eagle feather to the ear of the stylized elk's head, to represent residential school survivors.
Masuskapoe likes to draw in pencil in his sketchbook, working on symbolic wolves and bears, one of which represents NHL hockey player Ethan Bear. He said redesigning the Elks logo took a weekend to create.
