Honoring The Present, Remembering the Past

Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour is well aware of the responsibility he carries as a proud member of an Indigenous community.

Montour, who is of Mohawk descent, spent part of his childhood raised on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve outside of Toronto. He understands how a mutual association between team and community, such as the one between the Kraken and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, can be beneficial to Indigenous communities in terms of exposure and greater understanding of their heritage.

“I think having one of their own playing for a team helps as well – having that connection,” Montour said. “I’m looking forward to obviously meeting with those people here this year and starting a connection there.”

That’s why the importance of events such as Indigenous Peoples Night, pres. by Muckleshoot Tribe, isn’t lost on a player like Montour. The themed night takes place Tuesday during the Kraken home game at Climate Pledge Arena against Montour’s former team, the Florida Panthers.

Among many activities taking place within the event itself will be the Kraken’s inaugural ceremonial puck drop featuring Montour and Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov. It will take place at center ice before the national anthem alongside five members of the Pacific Northwest tribal community: Muckleshoot vice-chairman John Daniels Jr., Suquamish chairman Leonard Forsman, Puyallup chairman Bill Sterud, Chief Seattle Club executive director Derrick Belgarde and United Indians of All Tribes Foundation executive director Mike Tulee.

While Muckleshoot is sponsoring the event, the night is a celebration of all Indigenous communities as part of Kraken Common Thread – the team’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity through a series of themed game events and yearlong community initiatives. It symbolizes the idea that regardless of our diverse backgrounds and unique experiences, we are all woven together by the same passion and devotion for our team. This program takes a deeper look at growing the game of hockey and its impact expands beyond a singular game celebration within the season.

This year’s jerseys were designed for the event by local artist Keith Stevenson, a Muckleshoot cultural arts educator. The orange base color pays homage to the Every Child Matters campaign – a movement to raise awareness for the thousands of Indigenous children removed from their homes and sent to religious and government-funded “residential”, or “boarding”, schools to assimilate them into Anglo life. Such acts occurred in the early 1800s and lasted until 1969 in the U.S. and 1996 in Canada. Thousands of children never made it home alive. Their bodies were uncovered decades later in unmarked graves.

Phyllis Webstad, a survivor of the schools, remembers her first day when staff stripped her of her belongings, cut her hair and took away her clothes, including a cherished orange shirt she was wearing that her grandmother had given her. Webstad helped create Orange Shirt Day, Sept. 30, as a National Day of Remembrance.

The themed jersey’s letters and numbers contain a textile design from the Coast Salish territory dating back thousands of years, depicting a spear and mountain. This being a representation of Muckleshoot’s “Great Seal” found on their tribal flag.

The jersey’s redesigned logos were created using traditional Salish forms of Crescents, Trigons and Ellipses, typically employed to give a sense of balance and flow, positive and negative, to whatever they are being applied to – in this case, the Kraken. The design represents the mysterious and supernatural forces said to encompass the region, including the mystery of a Kraken lurking beneath the water.

Jerseys will be signed by Kraken players and auctioned off at the One Roof Foundation’s Anchor Auction table. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Potlatch Fund, a native-led non-profit organization providing grants and leadership development to tribal communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Potlatch has granted more than $5.5 million to Native individuals and non-profits. Their work is to promote diversity and address inequality by educating foundations about tribal communities and non-profits.

Fans can meet artist Stevenson during pregame from 5:45-6:15 p.m. at the lower-level TCP Gear for Good kiosk next to the venue’s Living Wall. Merchandise designed by Stevenson will be available at The Lair team store during the game, while supplies last, with net proceeds benefiting ORF and the artist.

Other game night activities include former Washington Huskies quarterback Sonny Sixkiller being presented with a $32,000 Kraken Unity Fund check. Sonny is receiving this donation on behalf of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation – a private non-profit corporation formed in 1970. The foundation’s mission is to provide educational, cultural and social services that reconnect Indigenous people in the Puget Sound region to their heritage by strengthening their sense of belonging and significance as Native people.

Sen. Claudia Kauffman, the state Democratic caucus’s liaison to Tribal Communities, will be attending the game along with the foundation’s Executive Director Mike Tulee. Others in attendance will be Rep. Chris Stearns, award-winning author Sherman Alexie, Colleen Echohawk of the Eight Generation retailer of native artistic products, Chief Seattle Club executive director Derrick Belgarde, former Seattle city council president Debora Juarez, Jaci McCormack of the Rise Above native youth non-profit, Port Madison Enterprise CEO Rion Ramirez and many other community members.

The night’s anthem singer will be Jeff Barehand, a member of the Navajo Nation from the Gila River Indian Tribe in Arizona. Barehand has lived in Washington state for more than 15 years and is a Sundance Native Lab Film Fellow currently adapting a book to film.

The house band for the game is Khu.eex (Koo-eeekh) an Indigenous group of storytellers, activists and artists that bring collective energy to the stage. Their music is intended to raise awareness of societal issues regarding the Native American population and broader concerns beyond tribal communities.

The Muckleshoot Canoe Singers will perform during the game’s intermission, while Daybreak Star Radio – specializing in musical, educational, cultural and language arts programming – will be a special guest inside the arena’s concourse.

”Off the Rez” food truck will be on-site serving up Native cuisine on the plaza, outside of the arena, before puck-drop.

This will be Montour's first Indigenous Peoples Night with the Kraken after he signed a seven-year free-agent deal with the team, following a Stanley Cup Championship season with the Florida Panthers last summer. Montour is looking forward to wearing and signing the specialized jersey during the team’s pregame walkup and seeing how the rest of the evening plays out.

“Yeah, it matters,” he said. “I think anytime you can create awareness of a community and also have that community or group support a team like ours, it’s great. I think people in the Indigenous communities and on Reserves will see that. And it benefits everybody.”