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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)
| I found it unsurprising but unfortunate that women and girls did not participate in sports. Even in the historical recounts of when children would play sports outside of residential schools, there is little detail about whether women participated. To me, this just shows how deep the gender stereotypes are, not only in Western culture but in Indigenous culture as well. It seems that historically, sports revolved around skills that are needed for survival, such as archery. Perhaps women were not part of the hunting. Therefore, they did not take part in sports when hunting became less necessary. It says that women were seen as vulnerable and fragile, making sports inappropriate for them, which again shows the deep-rooted gender stereotypes.
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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).
| Cultural genocide:
Cultural genocide is a key term that explains how the Canadian government’s activity assimilated Indigenous people to rid them of their own culture (Facing History & Ourselves. (n.d). I think it is a critical term because cultural genocide was a huge action taken in efforts to make Indigenous individuals fit into the European ideal that the settlers envisioned, and it continued for many years. The residential schools played a large role in culturally assimilating the next generation of children. In the lecture content, it said that sports even played a part in cultural genocide, being an important part of the process. The statement that sports played. a role in cultural genocide makes you wonder how the agenda of the government is pushed in sports.
Cultural genocide. Facing History & Ourselves. (n.d.). https://www.facinghistory.org/en-ca/resource-library/cultural-genocide
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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)
| Residential schools are an example, as they incorporated some aspects of body movement practice by adding sports for the children to play, but took away the Indigenous culture behind the sports. McKee and Forsyth explain that the sports pushed European values but used the Indigenous physicality.
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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.
| In answering the first question, I would say that I had a lot of freedom to play as a child. Growing up in a rural area, we had a large property, which I had the freedom to play in alone. However, when it came to playing organized sports, living too far from leagues resulted in my inability to participate. Looking back on the reading Chapter 15: The final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, it seemed that play was available to children in residential schools. However, the play was not part of their culture. The games were of European traditions. I think that especially as young children, play should be whatever the child wants, it should not be controlled. I know as a child, my play was not controlled, unless it involved danger.
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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.
| Lacrosse is considered medicine for the first man interviewed, he said he would play every summer and connected with those who coached him, specifically his grandfather. Lacrosse can be used as medicine for the mental trauma experienced by residential school survivors. The sport allowed them to speak their language together, acts as therapy and gives space for fun. Sport is central to the well-being of Indigenous people no matter where they are. Sports act as a release and bring people together. Sport helps facilitate the idea that we as a people are all one. Sports help create reconciliation by bringing people together.
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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 is saying that the way the government is trying to change sport is still with a Western/Euro mindset because it does not incorporate Indigenous perspectives and voices. She expresses how the mainstream colonial structures are still in charge of making decisions regarding Indigenous involvement in sport. The way in which Indigenous athletes participate revolves around the settler values and not the Indigenous values. The sports that they value must be represented because of the healing and community importance of those sports. Overall, she says that sports development should incorporate Indigenous-led organizations for the best results and the most inclusive sports environment. |
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.
I chose an outdoor skating rink because it is a free outdoor recreational activity that brings together all ages of Canadians. I think that a rink symbolizes the unity and community that surrounds hockey and skating in Canada. The outdoor rink symbolizes the deep rooted passion for hockey, in that people will brave cold outdoor temperatures and winds to play the sport they love. |
Section Three: Decolonization
Please see the major assignment for this half of the term in the final section of this chapter.
