Indigenized Super Bowl 2023

A running meme was, 'What in the Native Super Bowl is going on here?... We had Chiefs and Eagles playing against each other... while a pregnant Auntie preformed at the half time show."

Indeed, the Superbowl was Indigenized. On a more serious note, one of biggest games in American sports took place this past Sunday on native land and the Phoenix metropolitan area held all sorts of festivities celebrating and building up to the game that took place in State Farm Stadium on Sunday between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

The game featured at least two Native athletes, both of whom play for Kansas City. Center Creed Humphrey, Potawatomi and long snapper James Winchester, Choctaw. Kansas City won, making it the second straight year a Native player has won the big game. Walker River Paiute citizen Austin Corbett won it with the Rams in 2022.

On the field but playing a different role in the game was Jerod Phillips, Cherokee.

Phillips is part of the officiating crew which will be led by Carl Cheffers, the white-hat leader of the crew who fans at the game and watching around the world will hear and see announcing penalties as they occurred.

In his specific role, Phillips served as the down judge. This referee is positioned on the line of scrimmage watching for penalties relating to lineman and wide receivers, along with other duties.

It is believed that Phillips was the first Cherokee Nation citizen to referee in a Super Bowl.

While there were plenty of storylines for this year's game, there was also plenty going on before any play was run.

For the first time, an Indigenous artist's work will be featured on the game tickets, as well as other displays and a Super Bowl mural in downtown Phoenix.

The marquee artist Lucinda Hinojos is Mexican-American as well as Pascua Yaqui, Chiricahua Apache, White Mountain Apache, and Pima.

In a statement from the league, Marissa Solis, the NFL's senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing, said Hinojos was the "perfect partner for this project."

"She is a gifted artist, a football mom and a woman," Solis said. "We are so thrilled to use the Super Bowl as a platform to showcase her beautiful artwork and by extension, spotlight the local communities integral to Arizona."

Also for this year's game, the National Football League highlighted a number of Indigenous artists to celebrate "the fabric of the city by highlighting four unique designers at the intersection of fashion and community to create artfully designed Super Bowl merchandise," the website states.

In its second year, "Origins: An NFL Collection" is a grassroots merchandise collaboration program that aims to highlight artists in cities where the NFL hosts its biggest events.

One of the four artists/brands selected was OXDX, an Indigenous fashion label that brings Indigenous stories to the forefront. Founder Jared Yazzie, Diné, said on the "ICT Newscast with Aliyah Chavez" that he was contacted by the league last summer after being recommended by a company that took part in the program for last year's Super Bowl in Los Angeles.

"We were very happy that we got noticed on that level. These LA brands are really big and they're surrounded by streetwear people from everywhere and it's a blessing to kind of be noticed by them," Yazzie said. "So we're trying to show out for Native people, we're trying to show out for Arizona."

OXDX had a number of shirts, a hoodie, water bottle and some magnets to commemorate the game. Elias Jade Not Afraid, Apsaalooké, is also a featured artist. The merchandise was revealed to the public on Wednesday and available to purchase soon after.

This is the fourth time Phoenix is hosting the Super Bowl, with the last time occurring in 2015.

Naturally, with an event as big as the Super Bowl, the city expected a large influx of people for the week. According to Front Office Sports, the big game in 2015 brought "more than 121,000 visitors to the Phoenix area and brought in around $720 million in economic impact."

That number may be larger this year as another big event was held in the Phoenix area this weekend, the Professional Golfers Association is hosting the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Annually one of the tour's best-attended tournaments, TPC Scottsdale's website says more than 700,000 people attend the event over the four days.

The Philadelphia Eagles stayed on Native land this week – the Eagles stayed at the Sheraton Grand resort in the Gila River Indian Community southeast of Phoenix, about 20 miles from downtown.

Area tribal leaders were on hand at the airport Sunday when both teams arrived. Leaders from the Gila River Indian Community, Tohono O'odham Nation, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and Ak-Chin Indian Community greeted players.

Staying on alert – advocates throughout the city are also staying wary of potential threats to local residents, in particular those susceptible to human trafficking. An anti-human trafficking organization is raising awareness about the crime and how to report the activity as events surrounding the Super Bowl start in Phoenix.

It's A Penalty is an organization working to end abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking worldwide. Part of its work is conducting awareness campaigns during major sporting events like the Super Bowl, the World Cup and the Olympic games.

"Human trafficking is the fastest growing, second largest illegal industry in the world and no country or city is exempt," Sarah de Carvalho, the organization's founder and CEO, said at the Jan. 25 event to launch the campaign in Phoenix.

Educating the public about human trafficking is part of the solution, she said.

The organization partnered with hotels and airlines to spread the message to people traveling to Phoenix as well as how to report activities to law enforcement.

Human trafficking is not limited to urban areas, the issue impacts tribal communities as well.

Mary Kim Titla, San Carlos Apache, is executive director of United National Indian Tribal Youth Inc., a national nonprofit based in Mesa, Arizona. UNITY's mission is to empower Indigenous youth through personal development, citizenship and leadership by way of various programs.

Titla told audience members at the event that Indigenous people makeup 1.1 percent of the population in the United States but account for nearly 25 percent of human trafficking victims.

"Indigenous women and girls are the least recognized and protected population," she said.

A hindrance to tribes in addressing crimes like sex trafficking are federal laws that prohibit tribal authorities from prosecuting non-Native offenders, Titla added.

"For Indigenous people, there is a strong connection between colonization and the persistent targeting of Native people. Sexual stereotypes that were used to justify colonizing treatment persist today," Titla said.

Human trafficking happens each day and it does not discriminate by race, gender or socioeconomic status – it impacts every community, said Amy Love, chief of staff for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.

In Arizona, the average age of sex trafficking victims is ages 13-15, she said.

"Let's be clear, the Super Bowl ends, but the problem does not. We must work 24/7, 365 days a year to combat this crime statewide, and if you see something, say something," Love said.

Before Sunday's game begins, Colin Denny, Navajo, was on the stage during the singing of "America the Beautiful," signing the song using both American Sign Language and North American Indian Sign Language.

Growing up deaf, Denny hopes his performance will inspire others and shine awareness on North American Indian Sign Language.

""I just want to be able to inspire and empower those who are on their own to look around and see that there are other people out there who are just like them, and to not feel so isolated or lonely," Denny said, signing through an American Sign Language interpreter in a press release from the University of Arizona. "I want them to see me on that stage and see that I'm representing them."

Also, before the game, Arizona to Rally Against Native Mascots is protesting against the Kansas City mascot outside the stadium. They held a march is planned at 2 p.m. near the stadium in Glendale on Sunday.

Kick-off on Sunday was at 6:30p.m. with Kansas City winning.