The Rochester Knighthawks are hosting their annual Native American Heritage Night presented by Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, the official casino of the Rochester Knighthawks, in conjunction with the Marvel Super Hero™️ Night on Friday, Feb. 28 when they take on the Albany FireWolves at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
“The Knighthawks organization is both excited and honored to bring together two of the NLL’s cornerstone initiatives this season,” said Knighthawks Vice President of Business Operations Chad Buck. The “Every Child Matters” initiative is celebrated in connection with our Native American Heritage Night and “Marvel Super Hero™️ Day, which are league-wide campaigns that we’re grateful for the opportunity to support each year and aid in bringing essential awareness to on a global level.”
The game on Feb. 28 will feature specialty Black Widow-themed jerseys developed and inspired by award-winning Indigenous artist, Jeffrey Veregge, who passed away in April at the age of 50. A native of Litte Boston, Washington, Veregge was a member of Port Gamble Band of S’Klallam of Native Americans. Veregge, who was widely known for developing his own artistic style of blending traditional Coast Salish aesthetics and pop culture into what he called “Salish Greek”, soon caught the eye of comic book enthusiasts after transforming mainstream superheroes into masterful works of art.
Soon thereafter, Veregge, who attended The Art Institute of Seattle, began work for Marvel Comics, playing an integral role in the re-launch of Red Wolf, a popular native American superhero. In 2020, Veregge, with the help of a team of Indigenous artists and illustrators, oversaw the development of a series of variant covers featuring his interpretations of various Marvel characters that were later published by Marvel, including Spider-Man and Thor as well as Native superhero, Dani Moonstar.
To honor Veregge’s legacy along with his unique and irreplaceable contributions celebrating Indigenous culture, the NLL and Marvel will adopt his iconic cover designs for Marvel’s Legends of Lax for the upcoming 2024-25 season, an initiative which will be celebrated by all 14 member teams.
The one-of-a-kind jerseys will be auctioned off with a portion of the proceeds benefiting an organization at the choosing of Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino
More importantly, though, the game will be another opportunity to support and celebrate Native American groups as well as honoring their history in the region. Now in its fourth year, the game will feature various content, activations, ticket promotions and merchandise themed around Native American Heritage and the vital role Indigenous peoples have played in the history of the “Creator’s game.”
The night is also part of a larger league-wide campaign supporting the “Every Child Matters” initiative, which brings awareness to the forcible placement of Indigenous children in residential and boarding schools by the Canadian and United States governments from the 19th century to as late as 1996 in Canada.
Rochester opens the 2024-25 National Lacrosse League season on Saturday, Nov. 30 when they host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena. Knighthawks single-game tickets for the 2024-25 season are on sale now and can be purchased at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office, online at www.rochesterknighthawks.com or by phone by calling 585-454-5335. Season Ticket Memberships start as low as $20 per seat per game depending on seating location. For more information, visit www.rochesterknighthawks.com/memberships.
