Indigenous artist designs Maple Leafs logo

The Toronto Maple Leafs will wear special jerseys on Saturday featuring a logo created by an Indigenous artist from Northern Ontario; it will be during a hockey game organized to celebrate indigenous heritage.

The designer of the logo, Jennifer Taback, is originally from the Shawanaga First Nation, north of Parry Sound.

She said the Maple Leafs gave her the creative freedom to draw from her own cultural heritage when redesigning its logo.

I was asked how the culture of my community manifests itself in the worksaid Ms. Taback, co-director of the creative agency Design de Plume, in Sudbury.

Northern and indigenous realities in the logo

Taback’s version of the Maple Leafs logo is a lighter blue to represent water, which is abundant in northern Ontario’s rivers and lakes.

This logo also aimed to draw attention to First Nations communities who still do not have access to drinking water.

The maple leaf is highlighted with beads inspired by Ms. Taback’s sister, Julia.

She worked hard to embrace the culture and learn traditional methods of creating artshared Jennifer Taback.

Inside the sheet is a turtle, to represent Turtle Island and the Turtle Clan.

The artist also included two traditional medicines inside the leaf: sweetgrass and cedar.

Near the leaf stem, there are strawberries, which she says are known as heart berries, representing strength.

She said it’s important to create more space for Indigenous artists and praised the Maple Leafs for giving her the opportunity to share her culture.

Reconciliation is extremely important to me, especially in terms of economic reconciliationshe clarified.

For her, there is an economic interest in working in close collaboration with indigenous artists.

With her friends, family and colleagues, Jennifer Taback will attend the game between the Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks on Saturday starting at 7 p.m. at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

I can’t wait to celebrate with the nationlaunched Ms. Taback.

With information from CBC’s Erika Chorostil and Jonathan Migneault