Saskatchewan artists bring CFL’s Indigenous logos to life through mural

Over the summer, Dustin Ritter led a group of fledgling artists in painting a magnificent mural in the basement of Mitchell House, a Ranch Ehrlo Society group home in Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan.

Their mission? To replicate the Indigenous logos of all nine CFL teams as a tribute to the artists who created the original works.

“They’re so eye-catching,” says Ritter, the art facilitator at Ranch Ehrlo. “They bring a different dynamic to the idea of a sports logo. They make it so much more artistic and interesting to look at.

“We work with a lot of Indigenous kids, so we just thought this would be something that maybe everyone could enjoy. And just I feel like the Indigenous logos, for myself, they’re just really appealing. They just look so good."

Since 2024, all CFL teams have worn their Indigenous logos — designed by local Indigenous artists — on their helmets each year to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Like many in Saskatchewan, Ritter fell in love with the Roughrider logo designed by artist Chris Chipak, of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation. Inspired by the Treaty 4 flag, the Roughrider logo incorporates symbols such as the buffalo, the sun and the ribbon-like skyline.

So Ritter knew exactly what to do when asked to create a sports-themed mural in the depths of Mitchell House.

“They had a basement that had kind of just bare walls, and it was looking pretty rough,” Ritter says. “So I just worked with the kids from that house. I would show up one day a week, and they would come down and work with me as they had time to do it or had energy.

"So you have some kids down there for two or three hours, and some kids would come down for 15 minutes.”

Artistic ability was not a prerequisite for those wanting to take part, even though many of the participants possess immense artistic talent.

“We start with bingo dabbers,” Ritter says. “Even if you can't make a stick man, you can make a dot.

“So we'll sketch out the ideas, and then they help fill in the colours of bingo dabbers. And then after, we'll use paint and spray paint and stuff like that to make it a little more permanent on the wall. But everyone joined in and did their own flower designs and feather designs to go with the logos.”

Not surprisingly, the Roughrider logo occupies the prime real estate and greets people as they enter the room.

“That buffalo landscape is just amazing to me,” Ritter says. “So we kind of made that the biggest one that took up the most space.”

Another highlight is the Calgary Stampeder logo.

“We wanted to incorporate the red, so we made flames around it,” Ritter says “It doesn't have to make sense, but it's a flaming horse running through a field of flowers, and I just thought it looked really cool. And actually, one of our old staff plays on the Stampeders, Derrick Moncrief.

“And then the other animals, like the elk and the BC Lions and Tiger-Cats are all kind of in a pastoral field with the flowers. And then we put more of the letter logos further away because they didn't quite relate to that part. But they all kind of connected in their own cool way.”

For this particular group of artists, the most troubling logo proved to be the archrival Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“We wanted to give Winnipeg the attention they deserve, but it did stir up some trouble,” Ritter says. “Once people saw it, they would be like, `Oh, why would you put them in there?' So it’s nice to see the rivalry is still alive."

And underneath it all, the meaning of the project is much greater than that of football alone. The participants are even starting to create their own logos, including a buffalo made up of all S’s for Saskatchewan.

“For the kids who are Indigenous, it's cool to see that they're represented,” Ritter said. “The more they see of Indigenous people getting attention for doing positive things and something as cool as making a team logo that everyone sees, then I hope it makes them feel like, 'Hey, I could do something like that.'"