Canadian Astronaut's Moon Mission Patch Honors Indigenous Wisdom

A Canadian astronaut is carrying Indigenous teachings to the moon on humanity's first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years.

Jeremy Hansen will make history in April as part of NASA's Artemis 2 crew, becoming the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit. His custom mission patch tells a story that reaches far beyond the spacecraft.

For the past decade, Hansen has been invited by Indigenous communities across Canada to sit with Elders and Knowledge Keepers. These experiences shaped how he sees his role as not just an astronaut, but as someone carrying wisdom from Earth to the cosmos.

The patch was created by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. Its seven-sided shape represents the seven sacred laws of Anishinaabe culture, each symbolized by an animal.

"The buffalo represents respect. The eagle, love. The bear is courage," Hansen explained during a recent interview. "The sasquatch is honesty. The beaver is wisdom. The wolf is humility, and the turtle is truth."

Hansen participated in a vision quest at Turtle Lodge in Manitoba in 2023, part of his ongoing journey learning from Indigenous traditions. He's attended sweat lodges and pipe ceremonies, always as an invited guest honoring these sacred practices.

The patch weaves together multiple cultural threads. A bow represents Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt who gives the mission its name. The arrow launches from Turtle Island, the Indigenous name for North America in many creation stories.

Hansen will fly alongside NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch. Glover becomes the first Black person to leave low Earth orbit, and Koch the first woman to do so.

Why This Inspires

Hansen's patch reminds us that space exploration belongs to all humanity, not just one nation or culture. By honoring Indigenous wisdom on a cutting-edge space mission, he's showing that ancient knowledge and modern science aren't opposites but partners in understanding our place in the universe.

The Canadian flag on the patch symbolically brings all Canadians along for the journey. The Big Dipper and North Star remind viewers that "humanity exists amongst an unimaginably expansive universe," connecting cultures worldwide who've looked up at the same stars for thousands of years.

Hansen also honors his service as a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel with astronaut wings on the patch, recognizing the sacrifice of fellow service members and their families.

When Artemis 2 launches, it won't just carry four astronauts around the moon. It will carry teachings about respect, love, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility, and truth into the cosmos.