Tag Archives: indigenous

NLL Announces League-Wide Activation for ‘Every Child Matters’ Initiative

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, today announced its expanded support and awareness schedule for “Every Child Matters.” It is a league-wide initiative that brings awareness to the forcible placement of Indigenous children in residential and boarding schools by the Canadian and United States governments from the 19th century to as late as 1996 in Canada.

In the campaign’s second year, all 15 teams will participate in the program, which will run from Week 9 (Jan. 23-29) through Week 11 (Feb. 6-12) of the 2022-2023 season. Then for the remainder of the season, players will wear specially designed helmet decals supporting “Every Child Matters.”

All 15 NLL teams will be involved, either as host or as a road participant, with a planned home activity later in the season for some teams. Players will sport the NLL’s “Every Child Matters” logo on a specially designed warmup shirt, along with the helmet decal. The league will also produce audio and video messaging for broadcasts on TSN and ESPN. Additional content will be incorporated into NLL.com and league social channels, as well as into game presentations.

“Our continued work with Indigenous athletes and communities is a major priority for the National Lacrosse League, and the ‘Every Child Matters’ education process and activations are key components of that platform,” said NLL Commissioner Brett Frood. “This program presents an opportunity to facilitate meaningful conversations about the atrocities perpetrated by the residential and boarding school systems, continue the journey toward reconciliation, and honor survivors and their families.”

The “Every Child Matters” initiative is a part of the league’s ever-growing participation and awareness programs tied to Indigenous culture, which is at the core of the league’s values and the history of the sport of lacrosse. The work includes educational programs for athletes, coaches, staff and fans, land acknowledgment ceremonies, and charitable and social responsibility programs to strengthen and enhance the ties between league stakeholders and the Indigenous community.

Several NLL teams played games and conducted youth programs on Indigenous reservations earlier this season, with Philadelphia facing off against Georgia on Nov. 26 at Tsha’ Thoñ’nhes (Where They Play Ball) Arena at Onondaga Nation. Meanwhile, Las Vegas, San Diego and Halifax played a mini tournament in Akwesasne at the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena (colloquially called the Turtle Dome). This was the first of more in-person events ranging from clinics to other happenings that are currently in the planning stages and will be announced later in the season.

For “Every Child Matters,” the league created a new logo for this season with designer Justin Gilbert of Kuvua Designs. Justin was selected due to his work in support of Indigenous organizations and his connection to the cause, being born and raised on the Southern Ute Reservation. The logo contains the silhouette of an Indigenous child wearing a ribbon shirt and holding a traditional wooden lacrosse stick. The text “Every Child Matters” appears next to the image with a heart and feather.

“In this logo, I wanted to celebrate the culture we as Native Americans endured to keep. Since there are so many tribes that were affected by residential schools, my goal was to represent the vast collective of tribes who were affected,” Gilbert said.

Fans will be able to purchase cotton shirts through the league’s online stores, NLLShop.com and NLLStore.ca. For every shirt sold, the NLL will donate to the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund in Canada and The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the United States.

“With support from third-party fundraisers like the National Lacrosse League, we are reaching even more people throughout Canada, building cultural understanding, and creating a path to-ward reconciliation,” said Sarah Midanik, CEO and President of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund. “Thank you for answering Gord’s call to ‘Do Something’ to improve relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.”

“We are grateful for the National Lacrosse League’s willingness to partner with us and use its platform to bring awareness to the atrocities forced upon Indigenous children, families and sovereign nations across Canada and the United States,” added Deborah Parker (Tulalip), CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. “As we continue to work with boarding school survivors, educate the public, and advocate for policies that promote truth, justice and healing, partnerships like this will make our work more impactful.“

NLL UNITES Week 6 Leaguewide Initiative

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, announced that each of its 12 teams playing in week 6 will wear a specially designed orange “Every Child Matters” warm up shirts during the weekend of January 6-8th. Part of the recently launched NLL Unites, the league continues its Community and Social Responsibility programs throughout the 2021-22 season.

NLL Unites launched in Fall 2021, as the league’s first-ever leaguewide Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. The NLL Unites logo pays homage to the sport’s indigenous roots. The design depicts two early forms of the lacrosse stick, positioned in such a way as to form a heart that sits aside “NLL Unites”. The sole purpose of the icon logo is to pay respects to all who have grown the game, continue to grow the game, and that will grow the game, no matter their background.

Starting week 1 in Halifax, when the Thunderbirds wore custom Every Child Matters orange game jerseys, NLL players have been wearing the leftward-facing palm print and feathers design logo as a helmet decal throughout the season. During the Sports Interaction Game of the Week on TSN there will be a halftime feature on the Residential Schools.

The Every Child Matters logo was created by Dave Sowden, Equipment Manager, and Charlie Ragusa, Director of Digital Media. It pays tribute to those who attended Indigenous Residential Schools, as well as the children who are being discovered at the various residential schools across Canada and boarding schools throughout the US who didn’t make it home as well. “This is a perfect time for a professional sport, particularly the National Lacrosse League to spread awareness and foster Truth and Reconciliation across our country,” said Dave Sowden from the Halifax Thunderbirds’ and teacher on the Six Nations Reserve (Oliver M. Smith Kaweniio Elementary). “If not for the resiliency of First Nations people across Canada and the United States, we may not be enjoying the fact that we can take part in the medicine game -spectators, players, coaches, and everyone else who helps to bring a game together.”

  • Handprint – represents the uniqueness of every individual
  • Orange – comes from the story of a survivor who obtained an orange shirt in hopes of wearing it while attending a residential school. She soon learned that she was to dress like everyone else and expected to wear the provided clothing
  • Feathers – represent indigenous culture

Fans will also be able to purchase cotton versions of the shirt through the league’s online stores NLLShop.com and Fanatics.ca. For every shirt sold, the NLL will make a donation to Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund in Canada and The National Native American Board School Healing Coalition in the United States.

Select NLL team arenas (Buffalo, Rochester, and Albany) and merchandise locations will also have the commemorative shirts available for sale.

“This presents an opportunity for the NLL, its teams and its players to unify and show our commitment to educating our fans about their shared commitment to recognizing the history of residential and boarding schools, and supporting Indigenous causes,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “We are proud to include this program in NLL Unites as another initiative in our continued education of the Indigenous culture and of the people who created the great game of lacrosse.”

“The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund is thrilled that the National Lacrosse League is demonstrating their support of Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation not only with a donation but through their visibility,” said Kayleigh Jordan-MacGregor, Development Associate, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund. “By wearing orange warmup shirts, they help amplify the voices of Survivors of residential schools and draw attention to this important piece of our history.”

“The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is grateful for the partnership of the National Lacrosse League in raising awareness of the residential schools that targeted Indigenous children in Canada and the United States. We are honored to receive the support of the NLL and the lacrosse community as we continue to pursue truth, justice, and healing from the harmful impacts of these schools,” added Deborah Parker, Director of Policy and Advocacy for NABS.

The NLL Week 6 schedule is as follows (all times ET):

Friday, January 7
Colorado at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 8
Georgia at Philadelphia, 12 p.m.
Calgary at Rochester, 7 p.m.
Saskatchewan at Albany, 7 p.m.
Toronto at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Panther City at San Diego, 10 p.m.

National Lacrosse League Promotes Heritage, Inclusion, Service With Launch Of NLL Unites

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, continues its unwavering commitment to its foundational pillars of heritage, inclusion and service with the unveiling of NLL Unites, the league’s umbrella social responsibility program. NLL Unites will combine the efforts of the league, teams, players and partners to promote each of those pillars through storytelling, education, activation and access.

NLL Unites will continue to evolve as the program develops and grows. Most visibly and imminently for the coming 2021-22 NLL season, players will wear a specially designed helmet decal with a Every Child Matters logo designed by Curt Styres and the Halifax Thunderbirds organization, raising awareness of the history and role of residential schools throughout North America.

“We are very proud to roll out NLL Unites and continue to amplify the great work already being done by the league and its teams, players and partners with respect to all our efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “NLL Unites is the creation of a tremendous amount of work led by our Deputy Commissioner Jessica Berman and many others throughout the process. It will provide continued direction increasing our commitment to important initiatives that make a meaningful difference in many lives and will also allow support of programs that are authentic in their connection to lacrosse.”

The pillars of heritage, inclusion and service are at the heart of NLL Unites:

  • Heritage involves honoring the history of lacrosse and being advocates for the indigenous community. It connects inherently with our sport, NLL players and staff.
  • Inclusion is focused on making sure anyone who wants to play, watch or experience the NLL feels welcome. We want more people and kids having access to lacrosse. We embrace the challenge to make lacrosse for everyone.
  • Service highlights the community efforts of the league and its teams as the NLL is now in 15 markets across North America; we will work to positively impact our communities and give back.

NLL Unites was formed through collaboration and consultation with various partners and leaders in CSR. RISE conducted a series of focus groups with NLL players, teams, and front office staff to explore topics around diversity and inclusion, heritage, and equality. Together with the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, students conducted a CSR landscape analysis and recommended suggestions and initiatives that contributed to the framework of NLL Unites. Furthermore, the NLL reached out to other leagues, consultants, and ongoing partners to best understand the unique needs of the sport and its growing fandom.

Specific initiatives and programs will be announced throughout the 2021-22 season and beyond as NLL Unites puts a clear vision to the league’s corporate social responsibility efforts. These commitments will be guided through the subject matter expertise of the NLL’s non-profit partners including RISE, You Can Play and Right to Play, with more partners to come. Fans and anyone else who is interested can learn more about NLL Unites and learn how to get involved at nll.com/nll-unites.

NLL To Support National Day for Truth and Reconciliation With Season-Long Helmet Decal, Initiatives

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, today announced its support of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a series of initiatives that begin today and will continue throughout the upcoming 2021-22 season. The season-long program will start with a specially designed decal to be worn on all player helmets, an in-depth story with Halifax Thunderbirds player Cody Jamieson about the impact of the residential schools on his life, and more to come through the 2021-22 season. This is the first in a series of Social Responsibility programs that the league and its teams will be part of in the coming year.

“Having the opportunity to spend several days in Six Nations, learning of the history of the residential schools and touring one of the schools when I first became Commissioner was an experience of a lifetime and one I will never forget. The NLL is humbled, very proud and honored to support all the efforts by our teams and players in this important recognition of a sacred day,” said Nick Sakiewicz, NLL Commissioner. “Indigenous culture is indelibly tied into the sport of lacrosse, and we are proud that so many across the league want to support these initiatives to remember, reflect, honor and most importantly influence positive change.”

This program is inspired by its teams and players, including Halifax owner/GM Curt Styres and equipment manager Dave Sowden, who have shared their design of a leftward-facing palm print and feathers to be used by all teams for the 2021-22 season in the form of a decal to acknowledge the ‘Every Child Matters’ movement.

“We thank the other NLL teams for their support and appreciate that they will also be adding the Every Child Matter decals to their helmets for this season,” said Curt Styres. “We see this as a time of healing and we want to be here to support any way that we can and encourage everyone to become educated on the history of residential schools, become aware, increase awareness and reach out in their communities to see what can be done to help.”

Designated by the Canadian government as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation beginning last year, on September 30, people across Canada wear orange and participate in Orange Shirt Day events to recognize and raise awareness about the history and legacies of the residential school system in Canada.

For the most up to date information and breaking news, sign up for the NLL newsletter at NLL.com. Also follow Deputy Commissioner Jessica Berman and Commissioner Sakiewicz on Twitter @JessicaBerman1 and @NLLcommish, respectively.

Image: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

NLL To Celebrate Indigenous History Month In Canada With Native Art, Interview Series

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, has long been a leader in championing the awareness of Indigenous Peoples and their crucial role in the continued growth and development of their native sport of lacrosse. In that continued spirit and in conjunction with June’s Indigenous History Month in Canada, the league is proud to announce today’s launch of a pop artist initiative featuring three standout Indigenous pop artists and a player discussion with Georgia Swarm forward Randy Staats, highlighting and celebrating their contributions to the sport and authentically representing unity and inclusion.

The league has commissioned artwork by Yul Baker, a former Rochester Knighthawks player and champion and Squamish Nation citizen residing in West Vancouver, B.C.; Tracey Anthony, owner and operator of Vision Artworks of Six Nations / Delaware / Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations; and Jordan Thompson of Mohawk Art & Design, a citizen of Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the U.S./Canada border. Beginning today and rolling out throughout the month, the NLL will feature the artwork highlighting the artist’s unique journeys and stories via its digital platforms and social media. NLL fans can enter to win custom prizing with the designs throughout the month of June by entering at NLL.com.

Staats participated in a candid conversation with the league on the history of Residential Schools and how they impacted the Indigenous populations across Canada, raising awareness of this important history of these people. As one of the native players within the NLL, Staats will look to highlight the league’s efforts to raise awareness of systemic issues facing these populations as well as the strides made among this community.

Tewanee Joseph, member of the Squamish First Nation and CEO of Tewanee Consulting Group, will host interviews with the artists and coordinate communications efforts surrounding the program. In one of his many accomplishments delivering key partnerships, Joseph negotiated the first licensing agreement to recognize Indigenous artwork as part of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games in Vancouver.

“The contributions of Indigenous Peoples to the development and maintaining the enduring traditions of the ‘Creators Game’ is epic. We are honored and proud to work together for the continued success of lacrosse shinning a light on the immense contribution by Indigenous Peoples on the game,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “Yul, Tracey, and Jordan have created unique pieces that capture their unbreakable bond with the sport, and Randy is one of the league’s most outstanding individuals. We couldn’t be more proud to be featuring these beautiful works of art as well as Randy’s interviews, all reflecting our core values of unity, inclusion and character.”