The Canadian Indigenous-inspired NFL football has many parallels for veteran Buffalo Bills’ defensive lineman Eli Ankou in his sport and life.
Nipissing First Nation, Garden Village artist Quentin Commanda was asked by NFL Canada to design an official game ball. After his work was finished, Ankou received a package in the mail.
“It’s a very beautiful expression of what was going on in Quentin’s mind. When you’re playing football, you’re playing in front of thousands of fans. The fans are really only seeing one tiny little sliver, one result of the thousands and thousands of hours you’ve put into the game,” Ankou said.
“In that same respect, an artist is able to put their work onto a canvas. It’s a method of self-expression and you can definitely see the time, the thought, the effort that went into painting, the lines, the colour choice — everything has a meaning.”
According to Commanda, in Anishinaabe teachings the strawberry, known as O’Demin, represents heart and to him heart is a big part of football. He views the design as an X-ray photo of spirit with layers of meaning, but the heart strawberry is at its core.
“What’s beautiful about the football is having it displayed on such a large world stage. It begins the discourse on the beautiful things that come from our culture. Not only that, but also the things that may be afflicting it,” Ankou said.
“If you’re going to talk about Indigenous culture, you have to talk about the all-encompassing features, the all-encompassing things that affect us, whether that may be good or bad. Quentin did a very good job in encompassing the good, the beautiful, all of it.”
The Indigenous-designed footballs are part of NFL Canada growing its partnership with Football Canada to provide access to the sport in Indigenous communities across the country. NFL Canada has provided flag football kits and a donation towards programming for Indigenous kids.
“I’m really pleased that some of these balls will be delivered to Indigenous communities in Canada and areas where Indigenous youth are playing football. It will mean a lot to them to know that the NFL sees and acknowledges them,” Commanda, who grew up playing football on his reserve and idolizing players like San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice, said.
“In addition to O’Demin, and its connection to football, the design I chose for this football integrates the four elements and laws of nature, the medicine wheel, and a visual land acknowledgement. For anyone taking a look at the ball there are a lot of things to absorb.”
Several Canadian Indigenous-designed NFL footballs plus an additional donation are on its to the Dream Catcher Foundation, which was founded by Ankou and his fiancee Shayna Powless. Ankou is a member of the Ojibwe tribe through his mother and has family that lives in the Dokis First Nation near Sudbury, ON.
“Seeing that there are developments being made in order to enrich the environment, enrich the community, especially in the way of sports, I think that is a beautiful thing to behold,” Ankou said.
“Being able to distribute sports equipment to different communities, knowing that we have an opportunity to put this to good use, develop certain communities and be able to spread awareness on some of these issues affecting our communities, it’s a magnum opus to our composition.”
Fifty Canadian Indigenous-designed footballs were produced at the Wilson factory in Ada, Oh. where every official NFL game ball is made by hand. Some of the balls will be on display at NFL and Football Canada events and grassroots football gatherings.
Commanda’s graffiti-inspired designs can be found in buildings across Ontario, including the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, the Indigenous Wellness Space at Sunnybrook hospital, and Elliot Lake Secondary School.
