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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 chapter’s discussion on how residential schools used sports as tools of assimilation stood out the most. It was unsettling to see how something meant for joy and community was weaponized against Indigenous children. However, the resilience shown through reclaiming traditional sports like lacrosse was inspiring and deeply moving. |
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).
| Settler Colonialism: Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism in which settlers invade and occupy Indigenous lands with the intent of permanently replacing Indigenous populations and erasing their cultures. It involves systemic displacement, assimilation, and exploitation, often through policies that suppress Indigenous sovereignty while establishing a new dominant society. |
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)
| This process can be seen in how settlers appropriated Indigenous sports like lacrosse, stripping them of their spiritual and cultural significance while rebranding them as mainstream, Westernized activities. Additionally, settler colonial societies have incorporated Indigenous symbols, names, and practices into sports teams and events in ways that distort their original meanings, reinforcing colonial dominance rather than honoring Indigenous heritage. This appropriation serves to justify settlers’ claims to the land by symbolically adopting Indigenous identities while continuing to marginalize actual Indigenous peoples. |
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.
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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.
In the video, sport is described as medicine in several ways by the people interviewed:
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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”?
| Waneek Horn-Miller means that while the government is making efforts to support Indigenous sport development, it is still doing so through a colonial framework that does not fully respect Indigenous self-determination. Instead of allowing Indigenous communities to lead and shape their own sports programs based on their traditions and needs, government initiatives often impose Western structures, priorities, and funding models. This approach continues the pattern of control rather than empowering Indigenous peoples to reclaim sport as a tool for healing, culture, and community building on their own terms. |
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.
| A key cultural symbol in Canadian hockey discourse is the outdoor rink, often seen as representing resilience, community, and national identity. Images of children playing on frozen ponds or backyard rinks reinforce the idea that hockey is deeply tied to Canadian winter life. However, this nostalgic imagery can also exclude Indigenous perspectives, overlooking how colonialism has shaped access to and participation in the sport. |
Section Three: Decolonization
Please see the major assignment for this half of the term in the final section of this chapter.
