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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)
| One story stood out to me the most which was where Canada separated Indigenous children from their parents as they were sent away to residential schools as this was a way of “educating them” but of course was actually not the case as they aimed to strip away their Indigenous cultural identity as we have learned the immense trauma this has caused to children and families that have created irreversible traumas. I think this is one that always touches my heart when I read through this section of the module and I doesn’t get easier every time I read about it.
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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).
| Settler Colonialism:
This is a type of colonization where people take over Indigenous land and take everything they have, which has caused displacement for Indigenous communities and families as their land got taken away from them without having been asked just because colonizers at the time wanted the land so they just claimed it as their own. This has destroyed Indigenous communities and families as everything they had worked for was taken away from them as these colonizers settle on Indigenous land that is currently inhibited by Indigenous families as a way of stealing and taking control over their land and resources ruining their culture and children’s well-being.
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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)
| Colonialism had not only tried to restrain Indigenous culture but had also incorporated their “body movement practices” such as hunting for example, they claimed Indigenous identity as a way of fitting into their Indigenous culture and identity to make themselves come across as they fit into their way of life and practices as a way of expressing a sense of belonging and by fitting in finding a way of taking over as they came across as being one of them. This is because if they are seen as one following the Indigenous practices and ways of life, it isn’t seen as a problem therefore “make settlers Indigenous”.
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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.
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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.
| Sport is not just a activity but it brings people together, it is a from of self-healing offering a sense of well-being where Indigenous populations are often excluded in many ways it allows for them to feel a sense of belonging and to bring together bonding opportunities and to help build relationships where they can feel welcomed and accepted. Sport can be considered medicine to them as they are able to find it as a healing mechanism that brings joy and happiness.
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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”?
| The government lacks the ability to fully dismantle the colonial way by hindering Indigenous opportunities of Indigenous sport as Waneek Horn-Miller highlights how the government shows lack of initiative in its efforts to help the progress and growth of Indigenous sport which has created Indigenous communities to feel more excluded in sport than they already are in other ways of life. |
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.
 One of the binding cultural symbols that constitutes Canadian hockey discourse in Canada is the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tim Hortons coffee as it symbolizes community as when we think of Tim Hortons it is a place where everyone from the community comes to together and gathers to grab a coffee or a donut, where people meet up for lunch and to hangout. Tim Hortons is a sponsor of the Leafs as it was founded by a Canadian NHL Hockey Player with the idea of bringing people from the community together creating a social hangout spot. It has now become a part of everyday Canadian culture Hockey.
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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.
