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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)
| something that stood out to me was the weaponizing of sport. Instead of it being something done for fun or our of passion, it was used against the students in the residential schools.
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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).
| One of the keywords is the Indian Act. This act controls how the government interacts with indigenous peoples and where they live. While this act was put in place a long time ago, it has been revised a great amount of times, and is still in place today.
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C) Settler Colonialism
Exercise 3: Complete the Activities
If colonialism is typically temporary, settler colonialism is long-lasting
In contrast with colonialism, in settler colonialism, settlers form lasting attachments to the land*.
Settler colonialism often grows out of colonialism.
What is the role of sport in settler colonial projects?
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Appropriating the body cultures of Indigenous peoples.
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Allowing Indigenous peoples to preserve their traditions.
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Controlling the bodies of indigenous peoples
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 looks like settlers taking indigenous practices for their own. This can be seen with activities such as lacrosse, canoeing, or some dances, being taken from indigenous culture and being labelled as Canadian. These activities have been rebranded as recreational sports or life skills, and not part of indigenous culture and history.
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D) The Colonial Archive
Exercise 5: Complete the Activities
How does the archive play “an essential role in reinforcing colonial narratives about Indigenous-settler relations?”
1. Most photos were taken for official reporting reasons and therefore “connote meanings tied to and objectives” (51).
2. Images curated to suggest “a sheltered and productive school environment” that was “efficient, well-managed, and orderly” created a for readers who are invited to superimpose their own educational experiences onto what they see” (51)
3. Widely circulating generic images convey a sense that faces are and erase individual Indigenous (61)
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.
| As a child of a young mom with addictions issues, my play didn’t include sports teams or traditional children’s play parks like sky zone. My fun and freedom, came from making the most of what we had. While this didn’t include fancy activities that cost money, I was still able to play and do whatever I wanted with recycled materials or toys at home. My personal favourite was making homes and stores for barbies out of cardboard. Completing this module on decolonizing sport made me realize that children in residential schools had the most basic freedoms taken away from them. Even if they got to play, it wasn’t about freedom, exploration, or enjoyment, it was structured, and meant to steer them away from their culture.
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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.
| The people in this video identify several ways sport is considered medicine in this video. Emotional and Spiritual healing is identified as a result of sport due to sports such as lacrosse, being a place to handle life’s hardships. Sport can also be seen as therapeutic because it helps connects indigenous peoples with ancestors as the sport is aport of indigenous culture. |
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 calls out how the government claims to support indigenous sport, they are still doing it in a way thats rooted in colonialism. Instead of asking indigenous communities what they need or want, the government sets guidelines and creates programs without their input. This connects to what Mckee and Forsyth talk about. Sport is sometimes used as a tool to make it look like progress is happening, but to still keep all the power. |
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 symbol that could represent Canadian hockey discourse in Canada is a frozen pond, specifically one with children playing hockey on it. This typically pops up in Canadian tv series, movies, and commercials and can be identified as nostalgic by Canadians. This highlights the idea of hockey being natural and pure. However, Indigenous players and stories are almost never highlighted.
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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.
