Milwaukee City Wire

Danielle Barrett, a program assistant for Milwaukee Public Schools' First Nations Studies, recently visited the Marquette University Spirit Shop to see Nike brand T-shirts she designed. The shirts were released on November 1 to mark Native American Heritage Month and will be worn by the Marquette University men's basketball team during their warmup on November 30.

Barrett created the design while still a senior at Marquette University as part of Nike's N7 project. This initiative supports youth programming in Native communities, an opportunity presented to her by Jacqueline Schram, MU’s director of public affairs and special assistant for Native American affairs. "I feel it’s important to do that," said Barrett, highlighting the challenges faced by Native youths living on remote reservations. Proceeds from shirt sales at MU will benefit the university’s Native American Student Association.

The design draws inspiration from Barrett's heritage as a member of the Long Hair Clan of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. It incorporates elements like ribbon shirts and skirts, which symbolize Indigenous culture post-European contact. Triangles are used prominently in the design to represent geometric shapes in her tribe's beadwork and signify directions, students graduating, and respect for Marquette University.

Special permission was required to extend the design to the back of the shirt, where seven descending triangles form a braid—a nod to cultural significance and personal history with Indian Boarding Schools. The number seven also references both the seven clans of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and broader Native cultural principles like the Seven Generations mindset.

The shirts carry significant personal meaning for Barrett, whose grandfather attended an Indian Boarding School where children often faced forced assimilation. She will witness her design come full circle when she attends the November 30 game with her father at Fiserv Forum.