IndigenousFirst Nations fans across Canada are following the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. ‘I just love watching the game regardless if they lose or win’Candace Maracle · CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2025 5:07 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesCarla Robinson and her husband were lucky to be able to purchase tickets to Game 1 of the World Series in Toronto from a friend with season tickets. (Submitted by Carla Robinson)First Nations fans across Canada are following the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. These Jays fans, showing their excitement and support in different ways, are getting noticed.Carla Robinson, who is Haisla and Heiltsuk and lives in Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, was at Game 1 of the World Series in Toronto with her husband and appeared on the official broadcast with a small, hand-lettered sign.“I kind of felt like my sign was a little like the Jays, you know, underrated,” Robinson said.“Facebook back in Bella Bella and Kitamaat blew up when they saw me on TV. It just helped people feel so much a part of it …. Even when I’m there, I look for other Native people and I give them a nod.”Her father was a Jays super-fan and she likes how the Blue Jays are inspirational in the way they support each other, like her own community, she said. “It’s also kind of like a Canadian thing these days with everything that’s going on in the world. We’re all just trying to keep batting and keep going,” she said.‘32 years in the making’Brad Lewis, a Seneca pastry chef, said the first shift at his bakery in Port Dover, Ont., starts at 3:30 a.m. but he stayed up until 3 a.m. Tuesday morning watching Game 3, which went 18 innings.Although he did start work later that morning, he said as a lifelong Jays fan he wasn’t going to miss it. He said he remembers his parents taking him and his brother to Exhibition Stadium to watch the Jays when he was just three or four, and he remembers when they won the World Series back to back in 1992 and 1993.“This is 32 years in the making for the next generation. So a lot of my employees weren’t even alive,” Lewis said. They’ve been cheering on the Blue Jays with a Jays-themed menu, including blueberry macarons available this week.Blue Jays coffee art and a blueberry macaron from Urban Parisian bakery in Port Dover, Ont. (Submitted by Brad Lewis) Lewis said at the start of the season he thought the Jays would be “another last place team.” “There wasn’t a lot of new faces like free agents or trades to start the year, so I was a little concerned,” he said.”Like every other year, I just love watching the game regardless if they lose or win.”Fan artChris Chipak, an artist from Red Pheasant Cree Nation who lives in Saskatoon, made a Blue Jays-inspired artwork for NDNArtober’s Day 7 prompt Portal. It features two blue jays in two different styles, a “realism version” and an “Indigenous-style flared version” representative of two different worlds, Chipak said.Chris Chipak says the colour blue and the blue jay are powerful symbols for him. (Submitted by Chris Chipak)“I love that colour blue and the Blue Jays were just making some buzz in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s kind of like when you see a relative or you see someone who’s part of your community doing good things. You’re like, ‘I know them.’” Melissa Benson says this beaded ball cap took approximately 40 hours to make. (Submitted by Melissa Benson)Beadwork artist Melissa Benson, from Chippewas of Rama First Nation in Ontario, said her Vladimir Guerrero Jr. beaded hat has had an overwhelming response.“I’m so impressed with how it’s being shared around and it’s bringing the community together as well. Everybody is excited and we’re all cheering for Toronto,” Benson said from B.C. The series continues Wednesday night in Los Angeles and returns to Rogers Centre in Toronto for Game 6 on Friday.ABOUT THE AUTHORCandace Maracle is Kanien’kehá:ka, Wolf Clan from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. Her latest short film, “Tsi ní:yoht yonkwayentá:’on ne óhses” (How We Got Maple Syrup) is completely in the Kanien’kéha language.
Blue Jays fever in full swing for First Nations fans
