4
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)
| The part that stood out to me was the connection of hockey, being used in the media to further the agenda of the taking over of Indigenous lands. My feelings of the stories was negative because it changes my perception on the history of hockey being fun and a place to connect and ignore separate conflicts.
|
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).
| Turtle Island – Turtle Island is a term that represents the northeastern parts of Canada and America, the turtle is said to represent life and the supporting of the world. Therefore, the turtle is the creator of identity and culture and it is important to protect and have respect for it’s sacred land.
|
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 endeavor to “make settlers Indigenous” (75).
What does this look like? (write 2 or 3 sentences)
| It is the process of settlers reshaping cultural practices without understanding the meaning behind them. This takes away the Indigenous peoples power because the settlers are making false connections with the land that is not theirs, and thus claiming it as their own.
|
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.
| From my learning in this course the values we learn from different sports is the freedom to participate and compete in a world of separate rules than the one we live in. It is the right to identify how ever you want in this game without prejudice. It is also the right to be viewed as an athlete and an athlete only, and not have your sports career used for any alternative agenda. The main value of sport is a space that everyone can have the opportunity to be a part of and learn about strategy and teamwork through the lens of an athlete, coach, referee, or any other position that involves the sport being played. |
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.
|
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”?
| Waneek Horn-Miller is meaning that government is still not approaching sport in a way that inherits the indigenous values. Simply helping Indigenous athletes by providing equal opportunity to play the sport does not acknowledge the hardships the Indigenous athletes still face. It is still an attempt to take away the indigenous culture and transfer it to the colonial values. |
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.
Pond hockey is a cultural symbol of Canada because it is an opportunity for communities to come together. In my experience I have seen people helping shovel ponds for skating that weren’t even planning on skating on them. People come together because activities like this that are correlated to Canada giving the youth a chance to experience Canada’s values. The far less amount of equipment required and setting make pond hockey more accessible then hockey played in an ice rink. Pond hockey is a symbol for what Canada should be about. |
Section Three: Decolonization
Mini Assignment: TRC89
We call upon the federal government to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies to promote physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sports participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport, and build capacity in the Canadian sport system, are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples.
The steps to achieve this would be to ensure available participation for all Indigenous people. This would mean creating better access to sporting facilities, equipment, training, and other relevant aspects of sport. It would also mean having zero tolerance for discrimination and a freedom for someone to express themselves through sport. The Government of Canada is fulfilling this requirement by investing $24.2 million on projects lead by Indigenous people to help ensure Indigenous people around Canada have access to sport (Government of Canada). This will not only lead to the fair participation in sports, but to an increase in Indigenous excellence in sports. Communities around Canada can also participate in this call to action by understanding the Indigenous culture and showing respect to all individuals who have the ambition to become athletes, coaches, referees, league managers, and other positions in sport.
