Jeff Dickson says he drew from his community’s natural surroundings to come up with a design for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
“The cedar trees being very much the symbol of Indigenous communities and how we are connected to the land, the responsibilities we have to be stewards of that land,” says Dickson from Kwantlen First Nation.
“To have the sapling represented on the back of the jersey. So we have a fully developed or mature cedar tree protecting or creating an umbrella for the saplings.
“And seeing that the Bandits logo, which is the fox, represents that in a way that is more aligned with traditional coast Salish artwork.”
The Canadian Elite Basketball League is in its 5th year of existence with ten teams spread across the country including Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Montreal.
“Growing and keeping this conversation going, I think that’s that whole educational piece that as a full-time teacher, I know that the impact that what I have goes well beyond what happens in my classroom and I know my impact here, will go beyond a basketball game that’s going to be played on Sunday.”
According to the team, some of the proceeds from the sale of the jersey will go to the Lower Fraser Aboriginal Society.
“We thought this was extremely important because we want to be a provincial team and not just a local team,” said Dickson.
