Queen's Men's Rugby will be wearing specially designed jerseys for their game against the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, Sept. 30 in recognition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The jersey, which incorporates the team's values and traditional Haudenosaunee designs, is the result of a long and worthwhile process for the Gaels.
"Last year we gauged the guys of what they found important and what initiatives they wanted to be a part of," said Queen's Men's Rugby captain
Eric Godden. "And our coach (Queen's Men's Rugby Head Coach Dave Butcher) took that upon ourselves, and connected with the Office of Indigenous Affairs, who put us in touch with Diio, the Indigenous artists who designed this jersey.
"Through that process, we started to develop what this initiative would look like and really the process of how this can be more than just September 30
th. How can this team take this initiative across our season and our year and create a meaningful engagement?"
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Queen's Men's Rugby worked with Amy Brant from the Office of Indigenous Affairs on campus, and local artist Tsiokeriio (Diio) Hagen, throughout the process to design the jersey for Saturday's game.
Neil Trainor, a student-athlete with Indigenous heritage who is also part of the team's leadership group, said the Gaels really enjoyed the process of connecting and working with Diio to create the jersey.
"It's been amazing," Trainor said. "She's been so open and honest with her process and her life, and I know I've been able to connect really well with the jersey because of that. I think other members of the team have really been able to see everything she brings to this design, the way she's put herself out there, and connected with us as a team and our values to produce something that reflects us and her community."
Along with creating the design for Saturday's jersey, Queen's Men's Rugby used the opportunity to work with the Office of Indigenous Affairs to further inform themselves of the issues relating to the Indigenous community."
"I think at the heart of this, this is a big education piece for our team," Godden said. "At the start of this, a lot of guys may not have had a full understanding of all the issues relating to the Indigenous community within Canada and especially specifically within the Kington area. That's one thing we're really trying to push in this initiative is that understanding where we are and where we're able to be as a team.
"We've had some great sessions where we're able to ask Amy from the Office of Indigenous Affairs and ask some really deep questions and some personal questions and they've been great about opening the floor for a proper discussion to help break down some ideas. It's about the education piece and it's about creating the open discussion so that we can fix those within the team and then we can hopefully propel that into the community."
"What I hope it means for us personally is an opportunity to reflect and to learn," Trainor continued. "I know a lot of guys came into this not being super aware of some of the issues in the Indigenous community, and I hope that for them this has been a chance to open their eyes and see that and take them forward. I also hope that other teams on campus look at this and see that it's not just a jersey that you wear on the day, it's not just an orange shirt, it's something to put work in and you have to actually connect with the community and centre those Indigenous voices and learn.
The jersey design was a coming together of Diio and the team to represent the values of Queen's Men's Rugby. Both Trainor and Godden said the process was really meaningful for the team and helped them identify with the designs.
"Diio took some traditional Mohawk designs and motifs, and she's paired them with our team values of our brotherhood, our strength, connection and trust," Trainor said. "She's tried to create strong patterns that would signify that we always have each other's backs and that on the field we are trying to be tough and strong, but we're also connected."
The Gaels' leadership group first saw the jerseys last week. Godden said it was a special moment to see it in person, but also a very meaningful moment
"It was definitely exciting and a lot of time in the making. But there was also a piece about understanding, not just about the design and wearing it as a piece of clothing, but learning about the intention behind it, learning about the symbolism. Having a meaningful conversation with Diio was the most important thing and making sure that all the guys could have that connection to the jersey, not just the design, and understanding of it."
And come Saturday when the Gaels take on the Gryphons on Nixon Field, both Godden and Trainor said it will be a proud moment to take the pitch wearing the specially designed jerseys, with the knowledge of the whole process of the initiative the team went through in their minds.
"It's really meaningful for us because as a player group, we're trying to do our part in the education piece," Godden said. But there's so much that goes on behind the scenes with Diio and Amy, they've really put this initiative into action. Taking some pride in ourselves to wear this jersey and put to light all the work that they've done and advance this initiative to keep going into the future."
"It's huge. I know a lot of people from around the Kingston community are coming out to see this game specifically," said Trainor. "I think it'll be an experience that hopefully brings people out for rugby more often and also raises awareness for Indigenous issues in Kingston."
