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)
| One aspect of the chapter that stood out was how sports and recreation were both a source of resilience and a tool for assimilation. While some Indigenous students found joy, others experienced control and cultural suppression. Reading this evoked sadness and admiration for Indigenous communities’ strength in reclaiming these traditions.
|
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 Assimilation
When a large amount of people within a culture are forced into losing their culture and have to adapt and conform to a different culture and all of its aspects.
|
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)
| The appropriation of Indigenous culture can be displayed in the way that settlers exploit and disrespect the culture but will take a sport like lacrosse and other outdoor recreations and take it as their own game. This reflects the colonial way of taking away rights while also stealing ideas and other things of value to claim and benefit from.
|
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.
| What values do we learn from different sports and games? Sports and games may teach us the values of teamwork and discipline and the importance of physical exercise. Despite this, it also can display values of disclusion. control, and some other negatives as well.
|
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 considered medicine by the people in ways such as healing from trauma, in the way that it is a way to support emotion and well-being. Another way is how it reconnects them to the culture: many sports like lacrosse are deep-rooted in Indigenous cultures. Another way mentioned is the sense of community and belonging that sports can bring. Sports can also be empowering and can boost confidence, especially in youth players.
|
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 the government’s methods for developing Indigenous sport “very colonial.” So often, policies are framed by the idea that Indigenous athletes are there for so-called help — not agents themselves in leading their athletic programs. Thus, reoccurring is the historical example of non-Indigenous sports and leagues controlling and autisticizing (simulated inclusion confided by colonial terms, which is white settler controlled) Indigenous participation as opposed to actual self-determination contributing in a practitioner-centered intentional process even if applied shortly. The hockey case study of Forsyth and McKee offers an example where a narrative about national cohesion has been woven around the sport, one that ignores Indigenous relations. Although hockey is often touted as a national unifying force in Canada, Indigenous players have been marginalized from the sport and subjected to racist incursionist policies throughout our colonial history. The story typically goes that Indigenous athletes are only in the position they are today because colonial society is feeling gracious and we have not taken barriers away from them, but this itself serves to cover up systemic issues and hides how central an irreplaceable role Indigenous people play within Canadian 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.
|
A binding cultural symbol of Canadian hockey discourse is playing hockey on a frozen outdoor rink, often referred to as pond hockey. It symbolizes both the sport and the national identity and connection to the winter. However, this imagery often excludes Indigenous contributions and experiences, reinforcing a colonial narrative of hockey as a unifying force while overlooking the systemic barriers Indigenous players have faced.
|
Section Three: Decolonization
Please see the major assignment for this half of the term in the final section of this chapter.
