Steve Milton: Ask yourself, ‘Whose land am I on?’: Hamilton Indigenous athletes reflect on Day for Truth and Reconciliation
It was Papi White's first CFL touchdown, a public milestone on its own, but to the two men on either end of the dynamic 39-yard play it had a much deeper symbolism only they could grasp.
I was pretty honoured to throw that pass," Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Dane Evans said of his artful completion to the fleet receiver at Toronto's BMO Field in mid-September 2021.
Every touchdown means something but coming from another Native (American), especially an Oklahoma Native, it felt special," White recalls.
It just felt right."
Evans and White are both from Oklahoma, both deeply involved in the Ticats' interactive programs with local First Nations and both deeply proud of their own Indigenous heritage. Evans is Wichita-born in Chickasha, Okla., and White grew up 130 kilometres to the east, in Seminole, Okla. He's a registered Seminole, but also has Cree and Chickasaw roots.
They are among a small handful of Indigenous North American players on Hamilton's top sports teams, all of whom believe that Friday's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - a federal, but not provincial, holiday - serves a vital, if somewhat limited, function.
It's really important," says 19-year-old Hamilton Bulldogs' power forward Brenden Anderson, a Mohawk who grew up in nearby Ohsweken. I think it's a great day to have, even though some people might feel hurt from bringing those days back up."
Anderson says he knows just the basics about the residential school system" and that it hasn't been part of his day-to-day experiences, but I think people need to understand what it actually was, and that's what this day is for."
It can also help other people too, if there's something going on in their own life: maybe they can come forward about it," Anderson said.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours the children who never returned home from - and also the survivors of - the notorious residential schools, plus their families and communities.
Challen Rogers, team captain of the Rock, the professional National Lacrosse League team now relocated in Hamilton, says, I absolutely support it."
It brings light to Indigenous history and, obviously, the residential schools and how they affected people," Rogers said. It's good to shine that light."
Rogers, of B.C.'s Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation, has residential school survivors in his family, including his grandfather.
Among the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada's 2015 report are five that directly address sport and recreation. One encourages reflecting the traditional sport activities of Aboriginal people. Lacrosse, often referred to as The Creator's Game, with a perpetual match being played in the afterlife, is the only team sport with spiritual roots and has been played by Indigenous North Americans for centuries.
Anderson, who plays junior lacrosse for Six Nations in the hockey off-season, considers it an essential game for his hockey-skill development but also for its cultural continuity. And Rogers says that he takes the responsibility of being an Indigenous player in an Indigenous sport seriously. He and other Rock players do numerous school visits and the team stages a yearly Indigenous Heritage game night (this season it's March 11) celebrating the sport's ancient origins.
I just love sharing the game and where it comes from," he says. Being an Indigenous player, I just want to play with the values that have been entrusted to me."
Anderson points out that the OHL has a director of cultural diversity and inclusion, and that may get some Bulldogs fans more interested in learning more about it themselves.
Evans praises Canada for facing down its own history through 2015's TRC. While his Native American heritage has always been a huge, constant, part of my life" - his late grandmother Doris Lamar-McLemore was the last fluent speaker of the Wichita language - he began talking publicly in Canada about his heritage only in the past year.
Nobody really ever asked me about it," Evans explains. Maybe because I look like a bald, white guy.
With everything that has happened with the residential schools and Truth and Reconciliation Day being officially a holiday, I felt that I now have this even higher platform than I had in college and it's just time for me to share who I am."
White played college football at Ohio, but his sisters went to Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, where his parents, Amari and Titania, had been varsity athletes. He was actively encouraged to embrace his ancestry.
My grandma was full-blood Native American and every morning we'd wake up and learn about our heritage," he says. I don't talk much about it because I like to look ahead, not back, but being both Black and Native, I have faced racism in my life.
I think it's important to have a day like this because most things that are in the dark you have to bring to light in order to make progress."
But it takes more than raising awareness to effect change. Rogers says a logical next step would be to focus on Indigenous people all over Canada who are suffering from bad housing and unclean drinking water."
We're in 2022 and those things, especially in Canada, should be automatic for everyone," he said.
Evans adds that there are small things anyone can do to help make action out of awareness.
No. 1, you can type into your phone, Whose land am I on?'" he says. The City of Hamilton wasn't full of skyscrapers when (European) people found' it. There were people here and there were people here before them. That will spark your interest.
And No. 2, most Native languages are oral, so pick any tribe or First Nation and study their language. Even if you want to learn just one word on Truth and Reconciliation Day in a Native tongue, that's a real good spot to start."
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015): Calls to Action involving sports and recreation
No. 87. We call upon all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, sports halls of fame, and other relevant organizations, to provide public education that tells the national story of Aboriginal athletes in history.
No. 88. We call upon all levels of government to take action to ensure long-term Aboriginal athlete development and growth, and continued support for the North American Indigenous Games, including funding to host the games and for provincial and territorial team preparation and travel.
No. 89. We call upon the federal government to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies to promote physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sports participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport, and build capacity in the Canadian sport system, are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples.
No. 90. We call upon the federal government to ensure that national sports policies, programs, and initiatives are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples, including, but not limited to, establishing: i. In collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, stable funding for, and access to, community sports programs that reflect the diverse cultures and traditional sporting activities of Aboriginal peoples. ii. An elite athlete development program for Aboriginal athletes. iii. Programs for coaches, trainers, and sports officials that are culturally relevant for Aboriginal peoples. iv. Anti-racism awareness and training programs.
No. 91. We call upon the officials and host countries of international sporting events such as the Olympics, Pan Am, and Commonwealth games to ensure that Indigenous peoples' territorial protocols are respected, and local Indigenous communities are engaged in all aspects of planning and participating in such events.