This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.
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Authors: Taylor McKee, Assistant Professor, Sport Management, Brock University; and Carriera Joy Lamoureux, Master Student in Sport Management, Brock University
The puck has dropped on another National Aboriginal Hockey Championship (NAHC) — one of Canada’s most unique youth athletic competitions and cultural celebrations. This year’s tournament runs from May 5 to 11.
The NAHC was founded by the Aboriginal Sport Circle in 2002 and has been held annually since then. It brings together top under-18 male and female Indigenous athletes from across Canada to showcase the elite athletic abilities of Canadian Indigenous youth.
Part of what makes this tournament so unique compared to mainstream sport is the inherent focus on fostering cultural unity and pride.
The tournament has distinct ceremonial practices that distinguish it from other elite hockey tournaments and reinforce the themes present in the NAHC’s founding documents. These themes are demonstrated through event programming, including a players-only welcome event, opening and closing ceremonies, traditional artwork integrated into trophy presentation and playing traditional music.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action 87 asks all levels of government to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples to “provide public education that tells the national story of Aboriginal athletes in history.” The NAHC provides a tangible answer to this call by providing resources that tell the story of the tournament and celebrate past accomplishments.
In this way, the NAHC presents an important opportunity for researchers seeking examples of Indigenous sport that run counter to deficit narratives of disadvantage. Rather than focusing on potential struggles that players have overcome to reach the tournament, the NAHC is a celebration of the strength of Indigenous sporting communities.
The NAHC and Indigenous hockey excellence
The exceptionally high skill level of the NAHC has attracted the attention of scouts from across North America, though that is only a part of the reason the championship has maintained its presence in the Canadian sport landscape.
During the 2023 championship, tournament organizers called athletes onto the ice in front of their families and local community members. With the best Indigenous youth hockey players in the nation standing side-by-side along the rink boards, tournament organizers, elders and Indigenous leaders offered prayers and advice to kickstart a week of exceptional competition and athletic ability.
In addition, the NAHC has hosted numerous professional hockey alumni such as Jordin Tootoo, Ted Nolan, Bridgette Lacquette, Jocelyn Larocque, Michael Ferland, Brandon Montour and many others. In this way, the event’s legacy is connected with those of its most successful participants, further defining its place in both Indigenous and broader sport history.
Moving beyond deficit perspectives
The NAHC provides Indigenous youth the chance to celebrate their culture and participate in sports at an elite level and also tackles the deficit perspective commonly applied to Indigeneity.
In research, a deficit perspective treats individuals as the subject of numerous problems that need “solving.” This perspective “continues to reinforce to others what is not working, while failing to "actively seek out and report on what is working well.”
In this specific context, the term deficit perspective refers to language and practices (most often from non-Indigenous people) that emphasize the problems, issues and failures — both historical and present — of Indigenous Peoples.
Because a deficit perspective focuses on highlighting what is missing or absent in one group versus the dominant other, it leads to the continuing subjugation of Indigenous events and evolving traditions, including the NAHC.
For numerous reasons, Indigenous Peoples are routinely the subject of deficit-based research. If performed exclusively and without engaging Indigenous communities, deficit-perspective research has the potential to harm relationships between Indigenous and settler communities.
Shifting sport policy
Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, the focus of Canadian sport policy shifted from elite sport and national sporting excellence towards the inclusion and participation of marginalized communities.
As a result, Indigenous sport leaders and organizations participated in sport policy development alongside the federal government. These developments led to the creation of the 1992 Sport: The Way Ahead and 1998 Sport: Everybody’s Business policies, as well as the North American Indigenous Games, Aboriginal Sport Circle, and, eventually, the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship in 2002.
By facilitating an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples to participate in sports against the best in the nation, the tournament honours the resiliency of Indigenous Peoples while emphasizing notions of community and presenting youth with the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.
One unique way the NAHC commits to this strengths-based approach is evident in the distribution of tournament awards. As part of the closing ceremonies, each team sits in the stands with award recipients being called down to the ice while being cheered on by both teammates and opponents.
Because it puts a strengths-based approach in practice by centering and celebrating Indigenous sporting excellence, The NAHC challenges the deficit-based perspective that so often informs research and reporting on Indigenous sport. For this reason, the NAHC maintains an important position in the Canadian hockey landscape as a successful and lasting example of Indigenous athletic excellence.
Lucas Rotondo, a research assistant and undergraduate student from Sport Management at Brock University, co-authored this article. The authors also acknowledge the extensive contribution of Mel Whitesell, executive director of the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council.
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Taylor McKee receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Carriera Joy Lamoureux works for the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports & Recreation Council (MASRC).
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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/the-national-aboriginal-hockey-championship-celebrates-the-strength-of-indigenous-sporting-communities-228683
Carriera Joy Lamoureux, Master Student in Sport Management, Brock University, The Conversation
