The NHLB次元官网网址檚 Seattle Kraken have partnered with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe to put the tribeB次元官网网址檚 logo on their jerseys and help increase Indigenous youth participation in the area.

The team announced the agreement Wednesday at a news conference in Seattle. The Kraken will be the first team in the four major North American menB次元官网网址檚 professional sports leagues to feature the name of a Native American tribe, unrelated to a casino, on jerseys since advertisements became commonplace in recent years.

B次元官网网址淭o be able to assert sort of our place and our identity within the city, within the region, with organizations like the Kraken, itB次元官网网址檚 hugely important and itB次元官网网址檚 hugely meaningful and really a powerful step for our tribe, for our people,B次元官网网址� Muckleshoot Vice Chairman Donny Stevenson said.

The multiyear agreement also involves the construction of a sports court on the Muckleshoot Reservation, more Indigenous art at Climate Pledge Arena and the creation of hockey programs for Indigenous youth in the area. in their second year of existence.

B次元官网网址淥ne dream I have is young people throughout the Pacific Northwest who perhaps havenB次元官网网址檛 felt a part of it will now feel a part of it,B次元官网网址� Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said. B次元官网网址淎 dream of mine is someday a young person learns this support and succeeds, and maybe someday a young Muckleshoot kid wears that jersey with that patch on it.B次元官网网址�

Gila River Resorts & Casinos, owned by the Indian community of that name, is the sponsor on Arizona Coyotes jerseys.

The KrakenB次元官网网址檚 latest deal with the Muckleshoot Tribe in the sport is .

But itB次元官网网址檚 nothing new for the , which before it had a name or an arena invited members of Coast Salish tribes in the area for lunch in 2019 to get their input on everything from land acknowledgements before games to how to best reach out to members of the community.

Leiweke and Mari Horita, senior VP of social impact and government relations for the Kraken, look back at that gathering as the start of a long-lasting partnership for an organization that has sought to be more progressive than hockey at large.

B次元官网网址淥ne of the things we talk about a lot is trying to build the most inclusive and representative and welcoming hockey culture in the country,B次元官网网址� Horita said. B次元官网网址淗ockey has not historically been the most representative sport, and this is an incredible opportunity to start to shift that narrative and expand who hockey is for, so that a non-traditional hockey community can suddenly say, B次元官网网址榃ow, this is a sport for me.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Leiweke, who previously worked for the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks, the NBAB次元官网网址檚 Golden Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers and the NHLB次元官网网址檚 Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning B次元官网网址� the latter of which he was a minority owner B次元官网网址� called it a business partnership and a community one. In informing team staff of the agreement, he said he B次元官网网址渞eferred to it as one of the proudest momentsB次元官网网址� of his career.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e new,B次元官网网址� Leiweke said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e second year in. To have this endorsement from the Muckleshoots means so much to us.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址�Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press