The Toronto Raptors have a new logo courtesy of painter Luke Swinson, a Mississaugas of Scugog Island citizen.
Swinson, from Kitchener, has become renowned for his murals and beautifully flowing designs in recent years.
He’s created numerous works in his hometown and across Ontario. He also offers a variety of prints on his online store and led a fashion line for Ten Tree. This company sells environmentally friendly clothes and plants trees for each purchase, often to replace those lost by fire.
August’s All Beings Connected “speaks to our personal relationship and dedication to the land and its inhabitants, and the enduring strength of Indigenous peoples,” Union describes.
Meanwhile Luke’s The Original Treaties “represents the peaceful treaties Anishinaabe people made with the earth, sky and all living beings. Treaties allow us to work together, uphold our commitments and nourish relationships with creation.”
Last year, Luke Swinson provided a Downie-Wenjack Legacy Space to GM Canada. Swinson wrote this was an important location for him to contribute to given his familial connection to GM.
“My Great Grandpa George was a sweeper for GM Oshawa and he was known to make chalk drawings of animals on the floors while he worked, often drawing a crowd of onlookers. He was a major artistic influence for my Dad who was a major influence on me,” he said.
The fund developed these spaces to be “safe, welcoming places where conversations and education about the true history of Canada and our collective journey toward reconciliation are encouraged and supported,” they wrote.
“Each unique Legacy Space provides an opportunity to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples together to build connections and understanding while ensuring that Indigenous perspectives are represented and celebrated in the workplace,” the fund concluded.
Over the summer, Swinson was also selected as a new artist ambassador for the Downie & Wenjack Fund.
On Jan. 6, the Toronto Raptors unveiled Swinson’s latest work, “a reimagined, Indigenous-inspired Raptors logo” set to be worn in the game that night.
“I want to use this opportunity to share what I can about my culture and my people. I think that will encourage other Indigenous folks to get involved and to play basketball and to get their voices shared and to share their stories.
We are sending congratulations and are so proud of @MSIFN citizen Luke Swinson!
His reimagined, Indigenous-inspired @Raptors logo will be worn during the game tonight, January 6 at Scotiabank arena. @AnishNation @ChiefsofOntario @ScotiabankArena #Anishnaabe #FirstNationsArt… https://t.co/TdDW3tAmxO— MSIFN – Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation (@MSIFN) January 6, 2025
“This was a big one,” Swinson continued on Instagram, “There’s a lot to say about this design but at the heart of it is Indigenous joy and its many forms. Basketball is integral to so many Indigenous communities across Turtle Island and I really felt the drive to design something Indigenous Raptors fans would be proud of.”
The new logo and the Indigenous game are a part of the Raptor’s attempt to meet the Truth and Reconciliation Comission’s Call 87 which calls “upon all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, sports halls of fame, and other relevant organizations, to provide public education that tells the national story of Aboriginal athletes in history.”
The Indigenous game will feature the Raptors against the Milwaukee Bucks at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto tonight. Swinson’s art is available to view online.
The Downie-Wenjack Fund
The Downie-Wenjack Fund operates in honour of both its namesakes in an effort “to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.”
Wenjack, an Ontario-born Annishinabe boy was born in the isolated Northern Ontario Marten Falls Reserve in 1954. At age nine, he was taken from his home and sent nearly 600 kilometres east to the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School by Kenora near the Manitoba border.
The federal government funded the school which was operated by the Women’s Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church. Wenjack, renamed Charlie, was known as funny, clever and quick to pick up on wordplay.
He and two friends fled the school in October 1966. To escape was very dangerous. The principal was known to strap recaptured runaways and the cold could inflict limb-destroying frostbite.
Wenjack and his friends, the orphaned brothers Ralph and Jackie MacDonald, made it to the MacDonald’s uncle’s home in Redditt, some 30 kilometres north of Kenora. However, Wenjack, missing his father, wanted to return home to Marten Falls.
He set out along the CN railway track wearing only a thin windbreaker. Temperatures plunged to -7 C and Wenjack fell hard several times, causing significant bruising. He lasted 36 hours in the cold and walked 19 kilometres before falling a final time.
He died of exposure and hunger one week after his escape 60 kilometres from the school. Following an inquest which found the Residential School system caused harm to those forced to attend, Wenjack became a symbol of resistance to Canadian colonialism.
Nearly 20 years after Wenjack’s death, the Kingston rock band The Tragically Hip, fronted by Downie, formed. Over the following decades, the Hip, in part due to Downie’s lyrical examination of Canadian cultural identity, became an iconic act.
Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2016. Following this, he pushed heavily for First Nation reconciliation. He wrote the solo album Secret Path about Wenjack. The album was adapted into a graphic novel and then a film with art by Jeff Lemire (best known for his Essex County Trilogy).
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