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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)
| A part that stood out for me was that they used to believe that sports fostered manliness, making them unacceptable for women. This made me think about the fact that sports now are available for both genders, but as we talked about in previous modules, some sports are still gendered toward different sexes and genders, based on stereotypes. That essentially means that we truly have not moved away from this notion at all, which upset me as we have made some good strides thanks to social movements and the advocacy of particular leaders, but there is still a tremendous distance to make up in order to move away from sports fostering “manliness”.
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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).
| The Indian Act was passed in 1867. It was a governmental law that saw all “Indians” were given a status and were assimilated into European culture. It provided rules that were forced upon the Indigenous people that followed the commandments of the bible, as they were to be assimilated into catholic regions. For instance, the chief that was elected was only an honorary one and had no real authority, as that fell to the government, or the priest. It forced them to go to church and say a morning prayer each day as well. Indigenous marriages were to be changed from their own traditions to those of Europe’s. Additionally, the act put all land under the control of the church, which ultimately decided who to distribute the land to, and would only do so if they determined that the indigenous individual was an acceptable person according to the church.
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C) Settler Colonialism
Exercise 3: Complete the Activities
If colonialism is typically temporary, settler colonialism is
In contrast with colonialism, in settler colonialism, settlers form 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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Controlling the bodies of indigenous peoples
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Allowing Indigenous peoples to preserve their traditions.
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Appropriating the body cultures 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)
| The British viewed indigenous culture activities as rugged, manly and exciting such as hunting, lacrosse, and other activities. They would have had the indigenous people teach them how to do these activities and then adapted them to be for sport as opposed to using them for survival purposes. This way they were more similar to the indigenous people. |
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.
| There are many values that we can learn from different sports and games. First, what it means to be part of a team is something that many sports can demonstrate. As the season goes on, one gets closer with their teammates, and will start to play “for their teammates”. Also, weak bonds between teammates can form a rift between the team, which demonstrates how closely interconnected a team can be. Next, is the value of hard work. An effort needs to be made if an individual or a team wants to improve their play and be successful. The team must buy into their system, and must play as a unit to the best of their ability. Additionally, in theory, sports demonstrate that everyone is to be treated as equals. But, in practice, and based on this module, this is far from true. Sports are largely segregated based on skill levels, and even within those teams, there will be people that are better than others, leading to them getting more playing time because they are more likely to score a goal, for example. Finally, sports can act as a coping mechanism as seen in ‘the Skate’. The residential school students used sport as a means to cope with their lives and the hard times of school. They used them to remind themselves of who they were and what their lives were like. Also to build new skills and resilience for themselves to use throughout their lives. |
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.
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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”?
| I think that she means the government is not trying as hard to develop indigenous athletes, despite all the skill there. Rather, they let indigenous athletes play more recreationally, as the Europeans did upon colonizing the country. They have not adapted this approach. In order to develop more indigenous athletes, they should focus on accessibility because many indigenous communities are very remote and must be flown into, meaning the people there do not have a means to develop their skills as readily as others do because they cannot get to facilities are the higher standard coaching that less remote communities have. Next, because the colonists were weary of the indigenous population, instead of developing them, they assimilated them into societal members. Similarly, modern day governments are keeping indigenous on reserves with poor resources, limited space, or forcing them to leave those reserves but take up traditions other than sport. Parts of our government unfortunately still look down upon the indigenous populations as inferior, demonstrating racist qualities, so they may not think that they are worth developing into athletes as well. The colonizers forced the indigenous people to become dependant on them, meaning less freedom of their own to do as they please. Instead of helping develop athletes, the government basically hung them out to dry, in sparse resources and finances, so their focus had to be soley on survival as opposed to 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.
| **No link to post to padlet that I could see**
Ice hockey is central to Canadian Culture. Some of these symbols include pond hockey. It is an unstructured game that sees friends, families and complete strangers playing together, and having fun. Also road hockey is similar, I’ve played many games of road hockey at this point in my life and it is a central part of mine and others’ childhoods. Together, these two symbolize regaining some innocence from childhood. Also, a hockey jersey would symbolize covering up other cultures and histories, backgrounds and traditions just to play the game, but in terms of residential schools, it also symbolizes the reduction of indigenous heritage in those children.
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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.
