First Nations teen Indigenizes Edmonton Elks team logo for orange T-shirt

A First Nations studenthasre-designedthe Edmonton Elks logo for an orange T-shirt raising awareness of residential schools, with proceeds going tosports programs for Indigenous youth.

Izaiah Masuskapoe,14,from Ocean Man First Nation in Saskatchewan, is in Grade 9at 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 itsown 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 addedan eagle feather to the ear of the stylized elk's head, to representresidential school survivors.

Masuskapoelikes to drawin pencil inhis sketchbook, working onsymbolic wolves and bears, one of which represents NHL hockey player Ethan Bear.He said redesigning the Elks logotooka weekend to create.

Leah Piekema, who teachesart at St. Thomas More, saidhalf Masuskapoe'ssketchbook is logo design.

She said he came in on Monday and showed her the design he had done over the weekend.

Piekema sent the sketch to the Elks, who thenshared the student's art on their social media sites.

"I was in shock. I honestly cried," she said.

"It was so powerful and positive that they even took the time to reach out."

Piekema said she hopes itreaches a lot of people and raises awareness about residential schools.

Trevor Sieben, director of marketing for the Edmonton Elks, said ofMasuskapoe's logo,"We loved it."

The teamrebrandeditself with a new name and logo earlier this year after dropping its old name, which had been criticized for years for being racist.

Sieben saidone of the new logo's design elements was made to be minimal and easy to read.

"He found all those nice areas that you could fill in the gaps with the Indigenous motifs, things that were special to him," Sieben said.

"One of the things which I thought was super clever was that he added a feather to the ear of the elk . . . I thought it was a nice touch."

The T-shirts will be sold at the Elks home game against the Hamilton Tiger Cats Oct. 29. The team hascompensated Masuskapoe for his work and proceeds from the shirt sales willbenefitSpirit North, a charity that does youth sports programs in Indigenous communities.