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Early Indigenous Physical Activities (Pre-2000 BCE)

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Early Indigenous Physical Activities (Pre-2000 BCE)

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In Indigenous communities, physical activity is key to skill, relationships, active living, and above all, survival. It was of the best interest for the community to ensure everyone in the community was as skilled as possible. Running, swimming, and canoeing, were all used for survival in the Indigenous communities. These survival skills kept the Indigenous communities alive for so long! Without them, very few Indigenous people would be alive today.

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Arctic survival is tough. The Indigenous created activities and games to show off endurance and skill. These weren't games but rather skills to ensure survival. Some examples of the activities are knuckle hop, triple jump, toe hang, and more. The challenges of these games kept the Indigenous people striving to be active and fit to prove themselves. The games taught competitors respect to the rules, other competitors, courage, intuition, persistence, and patience.

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The Haudenosaunee and other Nations began playing Lacrosse as a spiritual game. The story behind it is that a bear, deer, and turtle were up against an eagle, hawk and an owl. As the teams strategized, the birds noticed two small creatures approaching, a mouse and a squirrel. They were rejected by the other team due to their size and wanted to play. The birds stretched out squirrel until it could fly (a flying squirrel) and they put leather from a water drum on the mouse to resemble a bat. The birds and tiny creatures won the game proving that no matter how small you are or what skills you carry, you should be respected. I think it is a beautiful story about how the game came to be.

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Snowshoeing became a mode of transportation needed for survival for the Indigenous population. The snowshoes provided long distance travelling to find and hunt animals like moose, caribou, and rabbits along with gathering firewood and other resources. The transportation was needed for trade, communication, safety, and more. Now people around the world use snowshoeing for sport and fun!

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Stickball is an Indigenous game closely tied to Lacrosse. Indigenous nations such as the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and others would use in ceremonial purpose, to bring communities together, and resolve conflict between nations. This game helped young people build up endurance, agility, and teamwork, skills needed in order to hunt and survive. There is of course a deep spiritual meaning to the game, which is that the game healed and strengthened the people.

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While canoe racing is not seen as a sport these days, the competitions for Indigenous people helped them train for hunting and it displayed skill. Speed through canoeing made trade faster, hunting faster, and even helped during battle. Races took place at ceremonies, gatherings, celebrations, and meetings. This influenced the later sport of canoeing and kayaking that we see a lot today in Canada and around the world.

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Lacrosse or, 'The Creator's Game', is a game designed to build endurance, speed, agility, teamwork, and hunting/warfare skills needed to survive. Players used wooden sticks with netted pockets and balls made of deerskin, clay, or wood. The design and rules depended on the Nation, but the main idea is to move the ball toward the opponents goal using the stick. The games were intense since body contact was allowed. Before settlers had come to Canada, The Creator's Game helped settle disputes and help ask for good health, successful harvests, or peace by praying and giving thanks.

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Around this time settlers from France, England, and Portugal made their way over to Canada and started observing and getting guidance from the Indigenous peoples. The settlers knowledge of snowshoes, canoes, hunting, and farming was slim but necessary to keep them alive. So the Indigenous showed them how to survive. Soon fishing and trading happened along with friendships and alliances. The fur trade had a big impact on canoe racing along with snowshoeing. Getting supplies to trading posts fast meant less competition, better partnerships, and greater survival chances.

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The French fur trading post Fort Michilimackinac was overtaken by the British after defeating the French in the Seven Years' War in 1761, but the British were more disrespectful to the Indigenous nations which caused dissatisfaction. During Pontiac's War in 1763 the Ojibwe planned to retake the fort using the game of lacrosse as a disguise, organising a big match outside the fort while British soldiers and traders watched from within. The game got closer and closer to the fort until the ball was thrown inside and players rushed to retrieve it, but instead they pulled out concealed weapons to retake the fort. The strategic intelligence of the Ojibwe—using a cultural game that the British deemed harmless to overtake them—was amazing, and this moment remains a famous early example of Indigenous resistance and the use of an Indigenous sport in a powerful way.

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Early snowshoe clubs were formed in communities around Canada like the Cree, Ojibwe, Innu, and Algonquin to help with travel, hunting, racing, and more. The groups in the clubs or groups would often compete and showcase speed, agility, and skill. Formal snowshoeing clubs began showing up as well as in Canada for European settlers and the northern U.S., which was of course inspired by the Indigenous practices used for survival long ago.

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Lacrosse started becoming quite popular among the settlers of Canada. Schools started leagues, clubs were more popular, and people around the world started playing. Sadly the traditional values of the game were lost in the process. The story of how it was created was lost and not told to most of the players.

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Since the game was being played by the settlers of Canada, there needed to be rules. A new set of rules made by Canadian settlers was used by the players and taught. The game of Lacrosse was still being taught to have connections to the Indigenous people even though the deeper meaning was lost.

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Lacrosse is officially the national summer sport of Canada while ice hockey would become the official winter sport of Canada.

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Despite the residential schools trying to 'take the Indian out of the child', the sports of Lacrosse, hunting, fishing, canoeing, snowshoeing, and so many more stayed within their traditions. The residential schools tore apart so many families and so many stories and traditions were lost through those generations. The sport of Lacrosse was stolen and labelled as Canada's just as the 150,000 children were stolen from their lands and families.

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Although residential schools took so much away from the Indigenous, their impact on Canadian sport is substantial. Indigenous players started competing in mainstream sports even though there was resistance. The discrimination faced by Indigenous people was heartbreaking, many were kids.

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The first Arctic Winter Games were held in the year 1967, featuring Inuit high kick, knuckle hop, and other northern events. This event helped popularise the Indigenous sport and it helped people reconnect with their heritage. The games created attention to the deep meaning behind the games, and they helped include others with the respect and equality the games had. This should be the model for every sport out there.

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Indigenous powwows started including more athletic competitions. The inclusion kept the games alive and people physically active while still being a part of their community and learning about their heritage. While the powwows went on, the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) expanded. NAIG are a multi-sport cultural event bringing Indigenous athletes from across Canada and the United States to compete with eachother.

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NAIG grows into a major event that showcases the beautiful sports used so long ago to help strengthen and improve skill of hunting like Lacrosse, canoeing, kayaking, archery, and more traditional games. Many people participate every 3-4 years.

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Schools and communities from all across Canada start reviving the traditional ways of the Indigenous games, stories, and teachings. This helps people gain the knowledge of the origin of their games, lessons, and everyday activities.

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The Indigenous sports are thriving now. Gym classes in schools include units on the traditional games. Information of the olden ways is online and there are gatherings to learn more about the Indigenous ways. The Arctic Winter Games have expanded even more, and traditional games are celebrated at constant powwows and fairs. Lacrosse is played by so many people and recognised by the government for its origin in the Indigenous history. Canoeing, kayaking, and snowshoeing are games and hobbies of many people. Leagues and clubs celebrate and practice the physical activity once used for survival in the harsh winters and constant realities of surviving without the luxuries provided today. There is still a long way to go, but the Indigenous have made it so far.