Peace Wapiti Academy rugby players brought Indigenous heritage to the field with their new commemorative Treaty 8 jerseys.
PWA rugby coach Ms. Sandboe-Goleniec is credited with moving the project forward, saying the designs were inspired by one of her Indigenous players who showed great pride in her heritage.
“Last year she had these beautiful leggings with Indigenous art in PWA colours. When I started thinking about getting new jerseys to replace our old ones, I couldn’t get her leggings out of my head,” she says.
Sandboe-Goleniec says it was important for her team to get new jerseys while conveying a message at the same time, and after contacting the PWPSD’s Indigenous Education Services team for support, the designers joined forces with Grande Prairie Friendship Centre Program Coordinator Natascha Okimaw to create a meaningful message.
The jerseys feature a prominent curved design in recognition of Treaty 8 territory, and Sandboe-Goleniec says she feels the design represents Peace Wapiti as well.
“We felt the curving design represented Peace Wapiti well. We envisioned the two curves as being the Peace River and Wapiti River, and how they come together.”
Each sleeve boasts a hand print, one red to represent MMIW individuals, and one orange to represent residential school survivors, and above each player’s number is “Peace Wapiti Academy” in Cree syllabics.
