The Art, Music, Videos and Books of
the Great Healing (AMVB):
SPORTS
Divjot Singh Narula
0681845
Seminar leader- Mara heiber
8th March 2020
For at least twenty thousand years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, aboriginal
people had been living in the land of North America undisturbed by outside invaders (Shi 2015
pg. 9). Native American's went through various adaptions in the culture and traditions, making
them strange to colobuses more advanced economy and traditions. This is the example of
indigenous resilience which simply means changes that occurs in individuals, families,
communities due to social/psychological adaptations
He viewed them as poor and very easy to manipulate due to their kindness to the Europeans,
soon the indigenous people were turned into slaves, therefore they began their problems
which continue to thrive. Even after so many years, the natives continue to be trapped in the
same problems
Native American's have scarce resources to manage vast responsibilities of transportations,
services, and infrastructure due to that they are deprived of a proper life without worrying
about the funds, due to lack of funds leads to minimal repairs and maintenance of their roads
making them almost impossible to travel on. This isn't the only problem faced by them,
they are even deprived of healthy food. They have way less availability of healthy food than the
non-tribal people, The study found that "the estimated prevalence of obesity is 40% of
American Indian adults compared to 28% of whites, and Diabetes was 20% for American Indians
and 12% for whites."2. This increase in obesity and diabetes is related to the Native Americas'
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lack of access to healthy foods. The land of these tribal people are likely to experience high
prices of food and transportation challenges in acquiring healthy food due to transportation
problems
These problems are preventing Native American communities to flourish.
Colonialism accounts for many bitter, demoralizing legacies, the most pervasive of which is
education, according to the 2016 Canadian Census, 33.65 percent of those who identified as an
Aboriginal person have no secondary (high) school or equivalency certificate, compared to 18.3
percent of the rest of the Canadian population
The income level of the indigenous people was 25% less than the non-natives. It is a slight
improvement from the 27 percent gap in 2005. Indigenous Peoples have historically faced
higher unemployment rates than non-Indigenous people. The employment rates of Indigenous
Peoples in Canada did not increase between 2006 and 2016.
Children in Indigenous families also have high rates of unintentional injuries and early deaths
from drowning and other causes. According to Health Canada statistics, Indigenous children are
three to four times more likely to die from unintentional injury than non-Aboriginal children of
the same age
And the most tragic of all is the higher rate of suicide among First Nation, Métis, and Inuit
youth. A 2016 Statistics Canada report found that more than one in five off-reserve First
Nations, Métis and Inuit adults reported having suicidal thoughts at some point in their lives.
Suicide rates are five to seven times higher for First Nations youth than for non-Aboriginal
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youth, and for Inuit youth, the rate is among the highest in the world - 11 times the national
average([1] Statistics Canada "First Nations People, Metis, and Inuit in Canada: Diverse and
Growing Populations, [2] Adult correctional statistics in Canada 2015\2016
I chose indigenous sports as my theme as I have been playing various sports for a long time,
And the thing that the sports we play today were first discovered by indigenous people spikes
my interest
Indigenous people have been involved in different kinds of sports from years, some of the
sports we play currently were first played by the indigenous people, a lot of sports made by
indigenous people have drastically changed and some are no longer played, most popular sport
made by the Indians was lacrosse, sports were a way for indigenous people to come together
despite cultural differences between tribes .sports gave the aboriginal people the feeling of
indigenous resurgence
The most famous sport during those times was lacrosse, it is still one of the most commonly
known throughout the Americas mostly found near the great lakes area it was also played in
the South, on the grasslands and plains in California, and in the Pacific Northwest, there were
three different variances of lacrosse based on equipment that was used, type of goal used,
stickhandling techniques. these different forms could be found throughout many different
tribes and tribal groups. The materials used in this sport were curved rackets, one ball, goal
posts, and the players. The ball was generally made of either wood or buckskin. These different
forms could be found throughout many different tribes and tribal groups. The rackets had a net
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on the end to hold the ball in place when running to score at the end of the field., Hundreds of
players participated in this sport and often prizes were given out to the winners. "J.G Kohl
declared Lacrosse to be the finest and grandest sport of all" (Native American Sports 18001860).
. Other forms of Lacrosse include Shinny and Snow Snake. Both games were different in rules
compared to Lacrosse, but have the same concept as to how it was played and how the game
was won. Lacrosse was mostly played by men, whereas Shinny was usually played by women.
Another common game played among various indigenous tribes was Hoop and Pole. This game
was played just by men as it involved shooting and throwing arrows and or spears to knock
down hoops that were rolled across the ground. There are no traces or evidence of women or
children ever playing this game. But not all native tribes were not involved in these games
. They had hand games, they swam, ran, and tested their strength and endurance. Hand games
were played with a person holding objects in one hand. Sports have been played for a long time
by the indigenous people
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Sports have been an important part of all cultures and societies all over the world and
throughout history, Activity in the form of sport can often be the purest form of expression for
society or individuals. sports often depict the society that it occupies, one important phase for
indigenous sports was in the native American boarding schools in the 1800s and 1900s, These
students lived tough lives but just like how it had helped other cultural societies, the sport was
able to provide these students with basic needs of autonomy and pride.
At these boarding schools, Native American children had to leave their homes and live at these
homes built by rich white men
purpose of the boarding schools was to attempt to bring the Native American community into
mainstream society (Bloom, 1996).
Punishments for not obeying such rules often included doing laborious chores or being
physically reprimanded (Bloom, 1996). Even with harsh restrictions, the students of the
boarding school's comment that they were able to develop a sense of personal autonomy that
reflected their tradition and culture (Bloom, 1996)
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Students knew that their athleticism meant something to the individuals who owned the
schools, sports gave them identity and value in front of these white Europeans which was first
unknown to them
This meant that the students would sometimes use their athleticism to show off their talents to
coaches of the boarding school but refuse to join the team. Bloom (1996) describes an instance
in which a student refused to partake in athletics at the boarding school because he refused to
cut his hair for the team; this student went on to mock one of the coaches of the school by
racing the track at athletes on the outside of the track. Some students used their skills to not
only mock but to physically engage a school official. One student only joined the boxing team so
that he would have the opportunity to beat up one of the school disciplinarians (Bloom, 1996).
Whether it was implicit or explicit, the sport was able to be utilized by the students of Native
American boarding schools to rebel against authority.
Native American boarding schools were considered elite athletic facilities that brought in great
coaches such as Glenn S. "Pop" Warner to coach their athletic teams. Such schools had national
recognition for their athletic students. These schools would often travel to various non-native
schools and not only compete but win; these competitions often led to photographs in the
newspaper and provided the students with pride in their Native American athletic prowess
(Bloom, 1996).
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Sports affect society in a way the no other hobby can, sports have an important role in society
all around the world. Sport is often vital to the autonomy, freedom, and pride of its participants
especially concerning the Native American students at boarding schools. Even though
individuals may have thought that the schools were exploiting the talents of the Native
American students, which they may have been, no one considered how the students viewed
sport at the time. There often needs to be less preoccupation with political correctness and
more focus on how certain actions affect the ones involved,
"In the 21st century America, it is unthinkable to name a sports team after an African
American, Asian, Hispanics or an as a matter of facet any other ethnic group, but why using
native Americans name still a fair game? Shakely 522)
Every team in every sport and at all levels of competition have a certain unique mascot. It is
the mascot that represents the competitive spirit and team identity, motivating fans and
players alike, it gives a sense of belongingness to all the people who consider themselves as
part of that team. Does the symbol choose to have any impact on whether a team wins or
loses? Highly Unlikely. But the choosing the Native American mascots continues to ignite
debate and controversy among athletes, fans and alumni, as well as those people who might
otherwise be disinterested in sports. Utilizing an Indian mascot is a derogatory thing to thing, it
directly promotes hate speech
The debate about whether Native American mascots should be used or not has been going on
from 1970s
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A lot of sports teams in North America use natives as the mascot, Not in a good way rather in
an insulting way. Indian mascots for sports teams are offensive to many Native Americans
because they are portrayed as savage cut-throats or act like fools
Only %16 of Native Americans find Indian names and mascots offensive but Shakely states, "If
16% of a population finds something offensive, that should be enough to signal deep concern
Shakely believes Indian names and mascots should be removed not
because of the number of Native Americans that are offended by them, but they should be
removed out dignity and respect for those Native Americans.
that %16 group of Native American organizations that find sports teams' Indian names and
mascots offensive have been protesting negative portrayals of Indians.
This group is trying to remove what they find uncomfortable with Indian sports names and
mascots. Many people do not realize what some of the Indian names mean. Shakely states,
"Nor do they think twice about what the Atlanta Braves or Edmonton Eskimos or Florida State
Seminoles represent other than sports franchises. But that doesn't necessarily make the brands
benign." (Shakely 521)
Shakely explains that a lot of people relate the Indian names to the sports teams,
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And they don't talk in context of the Indians, rather just the sports teams and they don't mean
any harm to the native American's. But does this justify naming the sports teams after Native
Americans? I
According to Shakely, Indians' mascots should not be portrayed as savage cutthroats and fools,
and it is an offensive insult to Native Americans.
All Indian mascots and names should be removed from all sports teams. It's the right thing to
do.
Now talking about solving indigenous issues,
FIRST STEP IS that interested Canadians should study regarding the treaties made between the
government and the indigenous people, this will help them analyse the situation correctly
The first step that everyone must take to solve the native issue is to be involved with the
natives, live their lives, go through what they go through every day. majority of non-aboriginal
Canadians should leave our usual complacency and apathy
, we all should not be silent about the bills that the government introduces.
Even the non-indigenous people should be involved with them in opposing what threatens the
water and lands that everyone uses and shares and protect it
Through co-operation, we might get past the "us and them" thinking among many citizens that
allows inequality
John Paul Jackson from Elliot Lake, Ont. made a great suggestion that the government should
allow the natives of Canada to do what they do best, which
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managing our natural resources. Have them oversee our water resources first, and then allow
the natives of this great country to manage our flora and fauna. They can only do better than is
what is being done right now
Indigenous people have occupied these lands for thousands of years, they are the true owners
of the land we have been living on right now. The idea about studying the indigenous intrigued
me, as we are living on their land, we must study about them.
. Now that we know the problems the natives face, what they go through every day. We should
understand the problems and the challenges they are facing. As I am an immigrant to Canada, I
have even gone through a little bit of immigration. A few years back I went to the United States
as a part of a school competition, where I went through discrimination for the first time.
I had to take part in a debate on some related topics, the person who was in charge of
conducting the discussion was an American. During the whole thing, he just focused on north
Americans or Europeans. No matter how many times our team tried to speak, he just kept on
interrupting us. Finally, the winning team was Americans. At first, I thought this was the peak of
discrimination, but as I grew up, I realized that this was nothing in comparison to what a lot of
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other people go through. The native people who have been living in their homes for thousands
of years were stripped of their lands, by the people they first welcomed and took care of.
What the Indian people went through is not what me or in fact, any non-indigenous person
could understand. As we are tenants living on their land, it's our responsibility to value their
privacy and not intrude in their private lands, As part of Trent we are lucky enough to study
about the indigenous people and their ways of life. But there are a lot of people who don't
know enough about because maybe they didn't even have a chance to study about them or
they were just ignorant about everything else, there are still some people who think of the
natives as savages and what not. People who know about the indigenous people and have
knowledge about them should educate others about the way of their living and their principals
.Now we know that how the indigenous people conserve the environment and protect wildlife,
we should follow their conservative principles as we know that our environment is dying and a
lot of wildlife is on a brink of extinction.
There are lot college sports teams use Mascots which represent Indians as savages, there is no
point In supporting those teams, as they are highly derogatory for the natives, even though
only 16% natives find this offensive, but this number is high enough to stop something, which is
soo offensive to them
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We learned about a lot of sports that the natives first introduced, which are one of the most
common sports played in the society right now, Lacrosse is one of the most popular sports
which was played by the Indigenous people and is still played now, a lot of the sports played by
them have been vanished or changed considerably
We should preserve their cultures and tradition as they represent the roots of all the things we
do today, thanking the indigenous people before playing every sport they built is the right thing
to do
Works Cited ;
-
Native American Sports (1800-1860)." American Eras. Detroit: Gale, 1997. General
Reference Center. Web. 29 Sep. 2011
Sports and Recreation (Early American Civilizations and Exploration to 1600)."
American Eras. Detroit: Gale, 1997. General Reference Center. Web. 29 Sep. 2011.
-“Native American Sports Mascots.” Issues and Controversies On File. 12 April. 2002. Issues and
-Controversies. Facts On File. Wausau East Library. Wausau, WI. 10 Nov. 2008.
.
-Price, S.L. “The Indian Wars.” Sports Illustrated 4 Mar. 2002: 1-5. SI.com. 16 Nov. 2008.
-Badger, Emily. “NCAA Puts Limited Ban on American Indian Team Names, Mascots.” The
Orlando Sentinel 5 Aug. 2005. SIRS =Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Wausau East Library,
Wausau, WI. 16 Nov. 2008. .
-Haugh, David. “NCAA Fever Rising, but Mascot Still a Contentious Issue.” Chicago Tribune
22 Mar. 2005. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Wausau East Library, Wausau, WI.
16 Nov. 2008. .
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Appendix One
Check List for Indigenous Studies 1001H and 1002H Papers
This list contains the items that you should ensure your paper contains. Please check each item and attach it to
your paper as the last page. Assignments will not be accepted or graded without it. Copy and paste this page
into your assignment.
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•
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•
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•
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Separate Title Page APA style with following text: Assignment Title, Name, Student Number,
Seminar Code, Seminar Leader’s Name, Date
Single use declaration appended on last page
Page Numbers on all pages but not on title page
Pages are within the page count of the assignment
Document is double spaced
Pages are in correct format: 1” margins all around, Times Roman font, 12 point
Paper has appropriately sized paragraphs, and paper is more than one paragraph
Citations in APA Format
No Wikipedia references or citations
Paper is print ready, i.e. paper has been run through grammar and spell check and results verified
with a human being other than the author
There is a formal introductory paragraph
Indigenous, Aboriginal, Inuit, Métis appropriately capitalized
Aboriginal, Indigenous are not used as nouns but as adjectives
Please sign the following statement:
For individual assignments
“I certify that this work has been prepared as a result of my own effort. I have not submitted this work for
grading in any other course”.
For group assignments
“We certify that this work has been prepared as a result of our collective efforts. We have not submitted this
work for grading in any other courses. Each of us have contributed an equal effort in the production of this
work”.
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Name
date 8th march 2020
Divjot singh narula
An on-line documentation guide is available on the Academic Skills Centre website:
http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documentation/overview.php
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