4 Chapter Four: Decolonizing Sport
These are difficult stories. We bear witness in this chapter to the role of sport in furthering the settler colonial projects throughout Turtle Island. Here are some supports to access in the community and from a distance:
First Peoples House of Learning Cultural Support & Counselling
Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwag Services Circle (Counselling & Healing Services for Indigenous Women & their Families) – 1-800-663-2696
Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre (705) 775-0387
Peterborough Community Counselling Resource Centre: (705) 742-4258
Hope for Wellness – Indigenous help line (online chat also available) – 1-855-242-3310
LGBT Youthline: askus@youthline.ca or text (647)694-4275
National Indian Residential School Crisis Line – 1-866-925-4419
Talk4Healing (a culturally-grounded helpline for Indigenous women):1-855-5544-HEAL
Section One: History
A) The Residential School System
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
We are asked to honour these stories with open hearts and open minds.
Which part of the chapter stood out to you? What were your feelings as you read it? (50 words)
| One passage that caught my attention is on page 361 of The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, where it was decided that women should not play sports and that competition is a male quality rather than a human one. Reading this makes me feel a certain amount of cognitive dissonance, which is why I find it funny. As someone who has played sports since I was two years old, I am aware that women have historically been viewed as weak and fragile on both a physical and mental level, but I can’t imagine not being allowed to participate. They specifically cite a textbook from 1893 that warned females who were too competitive may be physically harmed, discouraging them from participating in contact sports or other activities requiring extended physical effort. My competitive nature and the strength of the female body—after all, we can have several big children—make it amusing to me. However, males thought women were weak. When I see words like these, I am shocked because sometimes I forget the connection and how far we have come. |
B) Keywords
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
Briefly define (point form is fine) one of the keywords in the padlet (may be one that you added yourself).
| Muscular Christianity is a 19th-century movement in Euro-centric empires like the U.S. and Britain. It asserts that athleticism and fitness align with Christian ethics and morals. It centers on masculinity, strength, and active life according to Christian doctrine, summoning men to exhibit physical strength as religious devotion. It disagrees with broader viewpoints by supporting a limited construction of masculinity, suggesting that true Christian goodness is only found through the display of physical strength. It is exclusionary of women and non-conforming bodies, implying spiritual wholeness is intertwined with bodily strength. It therefore offers a paradox: Muscular Christianity demands physical presence for the sake of moral difference but also imposes discriminatory expectations that are incongruent with the inclusiveness of Christianity.
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C) Settler Colonialism
Exercise 3: Complete the Activities
Exercise 4: Notebook Prompt
Although we have discussed in this module how the colonial project sought to suppress Indigenous cultures, it is important to note that it also appropriates and adapts Indigenous cultures and “body movement practices” (75) as part of a larger endeavour to “make settlers Indigenous” (75).
What does this look like? (write 2 or 3 sentences)
| Indigenous cultural practices like dance, rituals, and sports are widely appropriated in colonial contexts. Rather than being respected, these practices are reshaped and divested of their initial meaning. This commodification of Indigenous movement practices for entertainment purposes creates a superficial relationship between settlers and Indigenous identity that distorts the authenticity of the original cultural practice. These disembodied practices affirm colonial narratives and dispossess Indigenous Peoples of their identity and culture.
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D) The Colonial Archive
Exercise 5: Complete the Activities
Section Two: Reconciliation
A) Reconciliation?
Exercise 6: Activity and Notebook Prompt
Visit the story called “The Skate” for an in-depth exploration of sport in the residential school system. At the bottom of the page you will see four questions to which you may respond by tweet, facebook message, or email:
How much freedom did you have to play as a child?
What values do we learn from different sports and games?
When residential staff took photos, what impression did they try to create?
Answer one of these questions (drawing on what you have learned in section one of this module or prior reading) and record it in your Notebook.
| Upon analyzing the photographs taken by residential staff of Indigenous children engaging in sporting activities, it is evident that it was an effort to create an image of success and optimism for the residential school system. The photographs were utilized as propaganda to indicate that the schools were, in fact, successful in their objective of integrating Indigenous youth into Euro-Canadian society through sports such as hockey, thereby framing these recreational events as incubators for the assimilated children. Yet, this is a veil for the realities of the students’ lives, which simplifies their complex pasts into a deceiving veneer of happiness and success beneath the Eurocentric gaze of sport.
This is also evident in McKee and Forsyth’s (2019) paper “Witnessing Painful Paths: Understanding Images of Sports at Canadian Residential Schools,” where testimonies show that even if the boys are lined up neatly, wearing uniforms with complete equipment and staring intently into the camera—thereby creating senses of belonging, health, friendship, social relationships, and economic security—Eugene recalls his cousin saying that a glance at his hands would be sufficient to determine how much physical violence the colonizers in the residential schools utilized, as he was being whipped with a strap to the point that he could no longer put on his hockey gloves (McKee & Forsyth, 2019).
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B) Redefining Sport
B) Sport as Medicine
Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt
Make note of the many ways sport is considered medicine by the people interviewed in this video.
| Aidan Baker calls lacrosse a requirement for his spiritual and emotional health, as it is a therapeutic release and a way of coping with life’s challenges. William Nahini considers how boxing was an outlet and source of strength in his time at school, assisting him in coping with fear and trauma. Chief Robert Joseph emphasizes the rehabilitative qualities of sport as a process of healing from negative historical experiences, viewing it as a path to pride and cultural belonging. The participants argue that engagement with sport fosters a sense of belonging, supports the maintenance of cultural heritage, and enables individual growth, and therefore contributes to their overall well-being and health. This shared understanding of sport as a restorative power shows how bodily movement is vital in their understanding of historical narratives and identities.
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C) Sport For development
Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt
What does Waneek Horn-Miller mean when she says that the government is “trying but still approaching Indigenous sport development in a very colonial way”?
| When Waneek Horn-Miller says the government is “trying but still approaching Indigenous sport development in a very colonial way,” she is criticizing the government’s approach to assisting Indigenous athletes and Indigenous sport organizations, arguing that, even though the government is investing and trying, their approach is based on a colonial model that does not completely acknowledge or regard Indigenous peoples’ distinct cultural contexts, needs, and modes of organizing. Specifically, she identifies the need for the government to get actively involved with Indigenous communities, learning their viewpoints and letting them take the lead in creating their own sporting programs. In doing so, she contends, the government would not only empower Indigenous athletes but also create a real, nurturing space for them to develop in sport. |
Exercise 8: Padlet Prompt
Add an image or brief comment reflecting some of “binding cultural symbols that constitute Canadian hockey discourse in Canada.” Record your responses in your Notebook as well.
The photo of kids playing hockey effectively conveys the essence of the sport as a Canadian cultural rate of passage. It is a depiction of community engagement, family life, and to a certain extent a link with nature when played outdoors. Hockey is not just a recreational activity for Canadian settlers but a valued tradition that brings families and communities together, a source of nostalgia, and a source of fierce national pride.
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Section Three: Decolonization
Please see the major assignment for this half of the term in the final section of this chapter.
