On October 19th, 20th and 21st, 2023, The Indigenous Hockey Research Summit took place in Montreal, Quebec. Hosted by the Indigenous Hockey Research Network (IHRN), the summit is “A gathering of Indigenous hockey players, advocates, researchers and communities in pursuit of a more just game.” The summit hosts were Davina McLeod and Mike Makwa Auksi, both Indigenous hockey players and members of the IHRN, who introduced panel moderators and generously shared their own experiences throughout the three days. The summit consisted of various panels, keynote conversations and community events that allowed for a rich dialogue on the past, present and future experiences of Indigenous hockey players. Each day had an overarching theme, which connected the various events together. These themes helped create a narrative throughout the summit that allowed the presenters and attendees to critically reflect on the conversations being had and propose actionable steps to address the structural racism ever present in hockey for Indigenous players. Ultimately, Dr. Sam McKegney, who organized the summit and is a member of the IHRN, noted the objective of the summit was to revolutionize the sport of hockey and “To make hockey a vehicle for Indigenous knowledges, values, and ethics and a force in the service of decolonization. We want to change society by changing a sport.”
Day 1: No more apologies: Eliminating Anti-Indigenous Structural Racism in Sport
The first day of the summit consisted of various reflections from researchers, community partners and Indigenous hockey players that reflected on the genealogy of Indigenous hockey and on the structural racism embedded in the game of hockey that impact the way Indigenous hockey players experience the game. During the panel on the genealogies of Indigenous hockey, the presenters aimed to highlight how Indigenous hockey players do not get the same opportunities as non-Indigenous players due to the prejudices and stereotypes attached to Indigenous peoples, such as being portrayed as lazy. Presenters also reflected on the unequal power relations that exist within the institution of hockey, which impacts Indigenous players’ access and opportunities to excel at the elite level of hockey or even just to enjoy the game.
We also heard from Indigenous hockey players and community partners about their experiences of racism in hockey. For example, members of the Keystone Junior Hockey League in Manitoba shared stories of when the non-Indigenous teams from their league left to form their own league, highlighting the racism, discrimination and exclusion faced by First Nations teams and players.
Further, we heard from former NHL hockey player Scott Daniels about his experiences as an Indigenous hockey player attempting to make it to the highest level. Scott shared his desire to make it to the elite level for his skill as a hockey player, but rather his opportunity came after a particularly violent fight he participated in during training camp. After the fight, Scott recalls being asked if he could do that every game, and in his desire to make it to the elite level, he said yes, which gained him a spot on the team. Scott became an enforcer. Scott’s story highlights the difficulty Indigenous players experience making to the elite level and the stereotyping that Indigenous players experience along the way. For instance, research demonstrates that Indigenous hockey players were typically ‘stacked’ into the role of enforcer in the NHL (Valentine, 2012). Valentine explains that coaches expected Indigenous players to be tough, violent and ruthless and were belittled and benched if they did not play the role, which contributed to stereotypes that Indigenous players were physical and aggressive but could not play hockey. Scott’s story is similar to that of other Indigenous hockey players that played at the elite level from the 1970s-2010s, which is highlighted well in the documentary, They Call Me Chief (Marks, 2008).
However, one of the key reflections from the first day was the lack of conversation and critical reflection on Indigenous girls and women within the sport of hockey. Those in the audience and on panels reflected on how our conversations tend to focus on the experiences of Indigenous boys and men. Particularly, Eugene Arcand of Muskeg Lake, a Residential School Survivor and an Advisor to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Indian Residential School Survivor Committee, pressed for further conversation on Indigenous girls and women. He highlighted that Indigenous women face the same racism as men, and when we consider decolonization, we must consider women as well. For instance, Eugene noted how few Indigenous women were signed during the PWHL draft in September (Jocelyn Larocque, Jamie Lee Rattray and Victoria Bach). Later, during a keynote conversation between Eugene and Marian Jacko, President of the Little Native Hockey League and the Assistant Deputy Attorney General for the Indigenous Justice Division of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, Marian noted that we needed to change the narrative for Indigenous girls and women to ensure hockey spaces are safer for girls and women to play in. Marian notes how the Little Native Hockey League was founded in 1971 due to the racism and exclusion of girls and women in both non-Indigenous and Indigenous hockey spaces. Marian purported that changing this narrative is possible through ice hockey, noting that we need to decolonize the hockey space to make it safer for Indigenous girls and women to play in as well.
Day 2: From Dressing Rooms to Change Rooms: Making Hockey Expressive of Indigenous Values
The second day dove deeper into the potentialities of hockey for enriching Indigenous values. The day began with a panel that considered the intersections of race, class, sexuality and gender within hockey spaces. For example, using the recent ban on social causes by the NHL, panelists reflected on how whiteness is being further solidified into policy, which allows racism to permeate the arena, making it difficult for marginalized individuals to feel comfortable and safe in hockey spaces. Jamie Ryan, a Ph.D. Candidate at Queen’s University, asked people to consider who can bring their full self to the dressing room and who is leaving hockey spaces because they cannot bring their true selves. A lasting sentiment from this panel was the need to reflect not only on how misogyny and homophobia operate in white hockey spaces, but also question how misogyny and homophobia operate in Indigenous hockey spaces, ultimately highlighting the need to understand the intersectional experiences of Indigenous hockey players and spaces.
The other panels that day focused on sport as a site of generosity, collectivity, and care. These panels highlighted various community organizations and Indigenous hockey players as they shared their missions to promote hockey in Indigenous communities and for Indigenous youth. A list of some of these community partners are pictured at the end of this blog post. Additionally, these panels moved beyond just conversation to talking about what can be done to increase the support of these organizations to better hockey for Indigenous players. The panelists reflected on a need for increased representation of Indigenous players to provide role models for Indigenous youth and more representation at the administrative level, such as scouts. Many panelists reflected on access to better (newer) equipment and facilities, emphasizing that Indigenous hockey teams often spend less time practicing and training due to the lack of access to equipment and facilities. Further, the panelists called for more recognition and exposure, citing that even the most competitive Indigenous hockey tournaments are not attended by scouts. An important conversation of the day was also around decolonizing research. Many Indigenous community members and scholars reflected on the necessity to move conversation and research into action. Reflecting on research as a historically dirty word for Indigenous peoples because of the way researchers extracted information from Indigenous communities without consent or sharing of results, panelists urged researchers to move conversation into action, which transitioned nicely into the aims of Day 3.
During Day 2, there were also several events meant to build community among the various participants of the summit. First, there was a community building hockey game, where Indigenous hockey players, community partners and researchers laced up their skates to play in a friendly game of ice hockey. After the game, there was a dinner and reception, where former Indigenous NHL players, Everett Sanipass and John Chabot reflected on their experiences in the NHL (pictured below). The day ended with the summit attendees attending the McGill Redbirds versus the University of Quebec Trois-Rivières hockey game, where the McGill Redbirds won 4-1.
Day 3: Blades Cutting Ice: Leveraging Research Toward a Decolonial Hockey Future
Recognizing the importance of Indigenous peoples as producers of knowledge, the last day of the summit focused on improving Indigenous well-being. The only panel of the day was made up of researchers in sport science who are working to improve Indigenous wellbeing through science and technology. The panel had several researchers from the Ice Hockey Research Group at McGill University who use biomechanical understandings of hockey to improve Indigenous well-being. For example, the research group provides Indigenous communities with equipment and technology that can track the ergonomic and mechanical functions of hockey equipment to evaluate human skill and performance. Providing this equipment and technology to Indigenous communities promotes Indigenous well-being in several ways. For one, it provides communities with better equipment so Indigenous hockey players can stay in their communities for longer before having to move away to access better equipment and training. Second, the research group communicates with coaches to share various results and suggest new drills to help improve performance. Third, it promotes relationship building: the researchers go up to the communities and meet the community where they are at. Lastly, the research group provides modules and courses for the hockey players, where they can promote biomechanical learning for Indigenous peoples. Overall, the research group works to use technology in a way to prioritizes Indigenous knowledges and voices, which promotes Indigenous people as knowledge producers. Other scholars on the panel also spoke to various ways that they are working to promote Indigenous wellbeing through technology. For example, Dr. Taylor McKee shared an upcoming database that will work to map Indigenous hockey players across Canada (pictured below). Davina McLeod noted that a database of this magnitude will help undo the erasure of Indigenous peoples as a result of settler colonialism by visually demonstrating the large amount of Indigenous hockey players that do exist across Canada.
After this final panel of the summit, Dr. Sam McKegney asked attendees to reflect on next steps. Both Eugene and Courage Bear, who is the founder of the Indigenous Sports Academy in Saskatchewan, a high-performance hockey academy for Indigenous hockey youth, emphasized the importance of “moving the needle” and urged the summit to move these conversations into action. During the open conversation, participants of the summit stressed several things. For one, we need to find ways to create more opportunities for Indigenous hockey players to access hockey and develop their skills to increase representation at higher levels. Another important suggestion was to expand the network. Dr. McKegney shared a list of universities and community partners that attended the summit, and stressed the importance of growing the list to ensure more people were in connection with each other. There was also an urge to define issues and research needs at the community level: to ensure that research is done with Indigenous peoples and communities. The last important action to highlight was that of the cultural component: we must ensure that Indigenous girls and women are being represented in research, on the ice, and in community organizations to ensure Indigenous girls and women are gaining access to the same opportunities as Indigenous boys and men.
As a white-settler graduate student, who has just recently entered the Indigenous hockey research space, I was honoured to be part of this summit. It was enriching to sit and listen to panels made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous hockey players, advocates, community partners and researchers. Not only did I learn a ton, but I found the space welcoming and inclusive of everyone there. This experience not only deepened by understanding of Indigenous experiences in ice hockey, but it excited me to envision what is to come if this group of people continue to work together, keep the conversation going and put conversation into action.
The Indigenous Hockey Research Summit had various sponsors, including the Social Sciences and Humanities research Council of Canada, McGill University – where the summit was held, – Queen’s University, University of Saskatchewan, Jumpstart, and the University of British Columbia. For more information on Indigenous hockey and how to get involved check out the Indigenous Hockey Research Network website here: https://www.indigenoushockeycanada.com/
Hockey in Society / Hockey dans la société 