Habs jerseys Indigenous Celebration Night Montreal Canadiens
Life, Sports

The Montreal Canadiens host an Indigenous Celebration Night on Saturday

by Lorraine Carpenter

Quebec’s Indigenous culture and communities will be honoured and represented during the inaugural event at the Bell Centre.

On Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens will host their inaugural Indigenous Celebration Night. The team plans to incorporate Indigenous artists and their work into the event on March 26 as part of the Habs’ broader mission to support diversity in hockey as well as Canada’s reconciliation efforts. Through the auctioning of warmup jerseys, designed by Mohawk artist Thomas Deer, the team will directly aid Quebec organizations and communities.

“At the beginning of the season, we made a commitment to take part in the reconciliation process by putting forward initiatives aimed at recognizing, honouring and supporting Indigenous peoples. Through our actions, we want to inspire positive change in terms of diversity and equity within our sport, both on and off the ice, as well as in the community, in order to provide all players and fans an inclusive and welcoming environment, free from any form of racism or discrimination.”

—Montreal Canadiens CEO/owner/president Geoff Molson

Indigenous culture will be well represented on the Bell Centre sound system on Saturday, with Anishinaabe DJ and producer Boogey the Beat providing the pre-game DJ set, the national anthem being performed in French, English and Cree by singer-songwriter Pakesso Mukash and music by Indigenous artists playing throughout the game.

The Montreal Canadiens host Indigenous Celebration Night on Saturday

Money raised from the jersey auction and sale of other Indigenous-themed Habs merch will go to Indigenous youth outreach organizations the New Pathways Foundation and Puamun Meshkenu. Tim Hortons is matching funds raised in the auction with a donation of up to $20,000.

“The fight against the different forms of racism and discrimination against Indigenous people is still not over. I would therefore like to warmly thank the Montreal Canadiens for this game in tribute to the First Peoples of Quebec, which will certainly inspire other organizations to take action and make a difference. Initiatives such as this one not only make it possible to highlight the richness of our cultures, but they also strengthen the ties that unite our communities and our nations.”

—Quebec-Labrador Assembly of First Nations Chief Ghislain Picard

Indigenous Celebration Night takes place at the Bell Centre (1909 Avenue des Canadiens de Montréal) as part of the Montreal Canadiens game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, March 26, 7 p.m., $106–$518

For more Montreal sports coverage, visit our Sports section.

Posted in Life, Sports

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.