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Pabineau First Nation artist Phyllis Grant translated a story told by her father into a logo for a junior hockey team.
Chaleur Lightning players will wear her colourful moose and orca design on their jerseys Sunday for their Indigenous Recognition Night game.
Grant said she is proud to see Indigenous art featured on the team’s jerseys.
“I’m really happy that the surrounding regions are embracing our culture and our way of viewing things,” she said.
Grant’s logo was inspired by the Mi’kmaw legend of the moose and the whale, or Tiam aq Putup in Mi’kmaw.
“They say you never see an old moose in the woods, and the reason for that is because it goes into the bay and it transforms into an orca,” she said.
As a teenager, Grant said, she used to have dreams about a moose jumping through her window. She also dreamed of looking into an orca’s eye.
When she told her father, Gilbert Sewell, about the dreams, he shared the legend with her. He said her dreams meant that her path was transforming, and advised her to share her creative abilities with the world.
A story of transformation
Grant said she likes to incorporate legends into her work and this one seemed appropriate for a team in transition. This is the first season for the Chaleur Lightning, which moved into the region after another team, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, relocated to Newfoundland.
“It’s the story about transformation,” she said.
Lightning president and CEO Roger Shannon said the team was looking for a local Indigenous artist to design a specialty jersey for Indigenous Recognition Night. Chief Terry Richardson of Pabineau First Nation suggested they reach out to Grant.
Grant said she thought about the logo for three months, and then completed the design in one uninterrupted six-hour session.
“I’ve never had a logo look like that,” Shannon said. “It’s just really catchy and it’s really attractive.”
He said the story behind Grant’s logo will be explained in the program for Sunday night’s home game against the Campbellton Tigers.
Shannon said the jerseys also incorporate images from residential schools.
“The boys will be wearing those proudly tomorrow during the game,” he said.
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