“Hobbema and Sport: A Historical Overview of an
Aboriginal Community”
By
Terry Foureyes
An Essay submitted to meet the requirements of HIST 470
in the Department of History & Classics
University of Alberta
(Winter 2005)
2
"Football players must be abstemious and moral in order to succeed. If it was in my
power to bring every Indian into the game of football, to contend as my boys have contended
with the different young men of the colleges, I would do it, and feel that I was doing them an act
of the greatest Christian kindness, and elevating them from the hell of their home life and
reservation degradation into paradise."1
—Richard Henry Pratt, a Native student who attended
a residential school in the United States (1897) similar
to the situations in Canada's Indian schools.
Hobbema is an Aboriginal community, which is situated eighty kilometers south of
Edmonton. People often refer to Hobbema as a reserve but in actuality it consists of four
reserves: Ermineskin, Samson, Montana and Louis Bull. Throughout my essay I will use
Hobbema in reference to the four reserves because in reality they share parallel histories due to
their close proximity. Hobbema is one of the largest and richest Aboriginal communities in
Canada today. It has undergone many hardships because of government goals to control and
assimilated Aboriginal people into a more civilized Western culture. This can be seen throughout
all of Aboriginal society and sports are no exception. In my paper I want to address certain
historical periods that I feel will help construct the development of sports in Hobbema by going
through an Aboriginal historical timeline. Several factors played an important role in the
development of sports in Hobbema such as the traditional prehistoric lifestyle of the Indians, the
creation of residential schools in an attempt to assimilate Native culture, and the introduction of
mainstream customs and sports. Each factor contributed to the creation of a separate Aboriginal
identity in Hobbema, not only in comparison to mainstream society but also in comparison to
other Aboriginal Canadian tribes.
1
John Bloom, To Show What an Indian Can Do: Sports at Native American Schools (Minneapolis, MN: Library of
Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2000), 1.
3
PREHISTORIC: SPORTS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ABORIGINAL IDENTITY
Prior to European contact, the land around what is now Hobbema was part of the Western
Plains with no real boundaries to restrict the Plains Cree from roaming. The Cree people were
hunters and gatherers who travelled from place to place for subsistence by hunting the bison for
food, clothing and shelter. Their social life was based on their nomadic nature, traveling in bands
to go to ceremonial events such as the Sundance.2 These social gatherings helped renew kinship
ties and it was within these gatherings that games were established. These became the basis of
sports in the Cree culture. There is very little literature written on Cree games but we do know
that they "were organic elements of ethnic communities and identities."3
Some games were designated for a specific sex, while others were of a co-ed nature. Yet,
all of the games required skill, endurance and/or strength. One contest that was primarily based
on hunting skills was "The Shooting Arrows Game (epimutahkwatahk)."4 The object of the game
was to have two groups of two men shooting arrows at a target and the closest arrow to the target
won. Each man shot four arrows and if no one scored by touching the marker with his arrow, the
player whose arrow was closest planted one arrow in the ground as a tally stick. The player who
achieved four tallies won. He and his partner collected the arrows that had been bet on the
outcome of the game. If one of the players made a direct score, he collected the arrows that had
been shot as well as the stakes.
2
David G. Mandelbaum, The Plains Cree: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Comparative Study, (Regina,
Saskatchewan: Canadian Plains Research Centre, 1979), p. 77.
3
Jennifer Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport: The Politics of Difference and Identity. (London and New York: Library
of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data, 2000), 80.
4
Mandelbaum, The Plains Cree, 129.
4
Another contest was "The Hand Game (mitcihtcihk)"5 and it still persists today at pow
wow gatherings. This game consists of two teams of at least four people who have to guess
where the bone is hidden. The game is played to people drumming and singing while one team
shifts two tiny bones "from hand to hand behind their backs under a coat or blanket."6 When the
bones come to rest, the opponents have to guess where they are. If they guess correctly they
receive a tally and the first team with 10 tallies win.
Apart from skill, endurance also played a role in their game activities. In "The Testicle
Game (opwepiticiwequhk)"7 women hit a ball with curved sticks and the goal was to hit the ball
into the opposing net. The ball was made out of two bags of deerskin stuffed with buffalo hair
and the nets were two tipis situated across from each other. Between four and eight women
played on a side. The game started in the centre of the field when one of the players threw the
ball in the air. The ball could not be touched with the hands or feet similar to soccer. It was
advanced by being passed from one player to another and the opposing players tried to knock the
ball off the other team’s sticks. When the ball had been passed beyond the goal, the scoring side
won. The game was basically a simple version of field hockey with minimal rules and
regulations.
In addition to skill and endurance, strength was also a component to sports played by the
Plains Cree to show their competitive nature. The “head over heels wrestling match,” also known
as Indian leg wrestling, is an individual competition to see who has the strongest legs. The
contestants lay opposite to one another, locking their arms, and attempting to flip the opponent
over with his/her legs. This competition is still played among the Plains Cree in Hobbema today
but is not considered an organized sport.
5
Mandelbaum, The Plains Cree, 130.
Mandelbaum, The Plains Cree, 130.
7
Mandelbaum, The Plains Cree, 130.
6
5
The traditional games clearly drew upon many of the skills that Aboriginals had
developed as tools for survival and their way of life as hunters and gatherers greatly influenced
the way sports were played. The skills that were used to win the contests were often the same
skills that would ensure survival on the plains. Within Plains Cree tribes the warriors held the
most power and prestige as they had separate roles and responsibilities. A good warrior was one
who had strength, wisdom, and experience in protecting and providing for the tribe. A warrior
was a male who became known as a man of bravery because of his battles in warfare and
protection of the tribe. The contests in archery, for example, show the great skill of a successful
warrior as it demonstrates his hunting ability. This is similar to how archery was used in
England, five hundred years ago, to test their skill of accuracy for hunting and military
purposes.8 It was a big part of their history and has now transformed into an Olympic sport
today.
For the Plains Cree, the contests of endurance are related to their nomadic way of life.
Traveling long distances across the plains to hunt required that the people continuously had to reestablish their temporary settlements. Mandelbaum illustrates this by saying that “sometimes a
band traveled a hundred miles or more from its usual locality to join in a Sun dance or to hunt
with some other band.”9 The endurance games highlight physical stamina as an important trait
just as it is in their strenuous and exhausting lifestyle. In their everyday life, warriors were
always competing with one another to show dominance. The competitiveness to demonstrate
their qualities of power was also seen in the games as the winner was signifying that he or she
had excellent skills for survival.
8
An Archery History Brief, (2005): http://www.archers-friend.com/archery-history.html (accessed on April 22,
2005).
9
David G. Mandelbaum, “The Plains Cree: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Comparative Study,” (1979):
http://www.schoolnet.ca/ABORIGINAL/Plains_Cree/index-e.html (accessed on April 22, 2005).
6
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS AND THE EFFECTS OF ASSIMILATION
The 17th to 21st century has been a period of great changes and transitions among the
Plains Cree. The hunting and gathering lifestyle was eliminated as the land once roamed freely
by the Cree was colonized by Europeans. The earliest contact between the Europeans and the
Plains Cree was during the 17th and 18th centuries when the Catholic missionaries, the Hudson
Bay Company and the North West Company infiltrated the west. “At first, there was cooperation
between the Indigenous peoples and the Europeans, but as they opened up the West for fur and
gold, and later commercially exploited the resources of the north,”10 there was no longer a
common goal amongst the Europeans and Aboriginals, which affected their alliance and
relationship.
Once Europeans made contact with the Plains Indians from the West , an Indian policy
was developed with policies aimed at assimilating the Aboriginal people. Many Europeans felt
that the Natives were uncivilized because they did not encompass the same qualities as the
European person. The nomadic lifestyle was viewed as unprogressive and primitive and it was
thought necessary to change the way the Natives lived in order to foster the self-sufficiency that
they would need to adapt to the changes as the Europeans settled. The European settlers wanted
to establish homesteads and use the land for agricultural purposes and much of the way they
dealt with the Natives was based on transforming them into farmers as well. The proposed and
practiced solution to the Indian problem was to instill the European values deemed necessary in
successfully assimilating the Native People. Although sports were not visibly incorporated into
10
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 80.
7
legal terms, however, they did play an important role in assimilating the children into
mainstream society. According to Hargreaves, “Sport was an important feature of assimilationist
policies that were being pursued at the time by national and local governments, as part of a
‘civilizing’ strategy and in order to salve the conscience of its indigenous peoples.”11 It was
through sports that one could further the assimilation process for Aboriginal people in Canada.
When the federal government gained control over the Hudson Bay Company territories,
treaties and agreements were negotiated with the Native peoples. The Plains Cree lived in the
area of what is now central Alberta, central Saskatchewan and part of Manitoba; the land was
largely unsettled by the Europeans. The treaty agreements imposed territorial boundaries on the
Plains Cree people. Treaty Six was signed in 1876 around Fort Pitt and Fort Carlton by most
Crees; however it was not signed by the Plains Cree people in the Battle River area until a year
later. By this agreement Native lands were ceded for education, resource, and health benefits.
Individual territory was then set aside for each band, separating the Native people into the
reserve system and this is where the four reserves in Hobbema came to exist. One by one, each
reserve in Hobbema began to establish into separate reserves under one title—Hobbema.
Hobbema is not a Cree word, rather it comes from a Dutch artist by the name of Meindert
Hobbema, “whose paintings were much admired by Sir William Van Horne, President of the
CPR Company.”12 The introduction of the reserve system was a turning point for the Plains Cree
because it severely restricted their nomadic lifestyle and they could no longer subsist off the
land. The government was joined by church missionaries to spur the process of assimilation
because the Natives were now in closed areas, thus there was more control over native affairs.
The arrival of the Roman Catholic Missionary group, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in
11
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 83.
P.E. Breton, Hobbema: Ongoing Indian Mission of Central Alberta, (Cardston, AB: St. Mary’s Indian School,
1969), 5.
12
8
1845 had a great effect on the policies of assimilation in Hobbema. The Oblate Missionaries
considered themselves “the first to carry the redemptive message of the Gospel to individuals
who previously had been under the influence of Satan.”13 The main goal of the missionaries was
to evangelize people while keeping the government’s policies of civilization in mind. Increasing
the influence of the missionaries and teaching them European customs was thought to be the
quickest way to both convert and civilize the Native population; therefore, the missionaries and
the government collaborated, establishing residential schools. By controlling the education of the
young generation, the prominent influence of their native families was subsequently decreased.
The majority of funding was contributed by the government while the missionaries were present
as administrators, teachers, and other authority figures within the schools.
There were different variations in how these schools operated. Overall, Native children
who were put in these residential schools were forbidden to speak and practice their Indigenous
cultural traditions because they were thought to be “barbaric and their spirituality as heathen.”14
Churches were established on all four reserves in Hobbema and in 1887, the first school was
built in Ermineskin where children from all four bands attended. It was 24 by 30 feet and the
main level was made into a chapel and a school room, while the top part was the house which
contained the Sisters’ and children’s dormitories.15 As years passed by the school began to
evolve into an effective boarding school for people to learn “the three R’s, English, and practical
training for life on the Reserves, that is, land cultivation and cattle raising for boys, home
economics for girls.”16
In 1922, the day school was converted into a boarding school; the children were taken
13
Raymond J.A. Huel, Proclaiming the Gospel to the Indians and Metis, (Edmonton, AB: The University of Alberta
Press, 1996), 4.
14
Doug Tindal, “Residential School Overview: Where we have been,” Ministry Matters 7 (1) (Winter 2000, Special
Edition) 9.
15
Breton, Hobbema, 20.
16
Breton, Hobbema, 21.
9
from their homes and were only allowed to go back to their families during the summer months.
It was called a half-day school because only half of the day was used for education while the
remaining time was spent teaching the children basic work duties and ethics. The second half of
the day was the time when sports really began to develop as this was a time for the students to
engage in games and European sports. The separation from family was used to instill European
values, language, and customs. The children were prevented from practicing their traditional
ways of life and were taught that all they had learned at home previous to coming to school was
evil. Many of the students who attended the school in Hobbema can recall that this assimilation
process was negative because they could not associate with their Native traditional lifestyle. A
former student from the Samson band can recall that: “there was a loss of culture and language.
In the classrooms, we weren’t allowed to speak our language. A lot of our customs practically
died out.”17
The residential school system portrayed the Plains Indian culture as barbaric and evil; one
student recalls that teachers used “pictorial catechism, showing white people ascending a road to
heaven and Indians descending on a road to hell.”18 The assimilation of the children and the
eradication of their traditional customs affected every aspect of their lives and sports were no
exception. Trying to make Native peoples into Christian Canadians by making them speak
“English, . . . follow the Christian faith, and . . . learn the habits of labour of white European
culture”19 led to the elimination of traditional games and the introduction of new ones.
There is minimal literature written on sports activities in the Hobbema school but what is
certain is that sports had become a part of the residential school system for some time. In the
17
Geoffrey York, The Dispossessed: Life and Death in Native Canada, (London, UK: Lester and Orpen Dennys,
1990), 93.
18
York, The Disposessed, 41.
19
York, The Disposessed, 92.
10
1950s, Father Georges-Marie Latour O.M.I. would visit the community to preach and develop
extracurricular activities for the youth in the community. He organized “a Cadet Group,
encouraged sports, and took a most active part in the Indian Catholic League as one of its
promoters.”20 A variety of European-based extracurricular activities were in place in the schools
to provide recreation and promote an active lifestyle. These activities were in place in the schools
to provide recreation and promote an active lifestyle. These activities were not part of curriculum
but rather were taught as an extracurricular activity. A Samson Band member, Herman Cutknife,
who attended the school in the late 1940s and early 1950s can recall how “there were a variety of
sports played such as hockey, baseball, volleyball and so on and took place after school and
everybody usually took up one sport at least . . . hockey was a very popular one.”21 These
activities provided within the school could range from fine arts such as European music and
dance to clubs such as Boy Scouts. A periodical known as “Moccasin News” was created by the
missionaries to inform the parents about the kinds of activities the children were taking part in
around the institution. According to the 1951 Moccasin News a letter was sent to the parents that
illustrated: “At school, your children were educated in such a way as to promote growth in all
spheres. They acquired, to some extent, ideas, attitudes, and habits which they will need for life
in society . . . . By this only can we expect to have worthy citizens of this world and of the
next.”22 This was used to show that their children were being taught the skills and knowledge
necessary for a good citizen and this included sports being taught at the school because they were
an integral part of their development. There were many teams that played all sorts of sports but
the most popular of them all were hockey, gymnastics, curling, boxing and baseball. There were
teams that used Native symbols and names such as the hockey team, “the Hobbema
20
Breton, Hobbema, 46.
Herman Cutknife, A Personal Interview.
22
Moccasin News, December 1951.
21
11
Tomahawks,” who would play other residential schools and non-native sports teams in the
surrounding area. Herman Cutknife could recall that “many of the games were played at other
residential schools such as Cardston and other games in non-Native communities such as
Wetaskiwin . . . . I can recall that many of the non-Native teams did not want to play us because
they thought they were better than us and didn’t want to waste their time.”23 Mr. Cutknife also
went on to say that many of the sports played were primarily exhibition games as they would
challenge other teams to play and if they accepted then the games went on. There was no real
structure and organization. Teams simply challenged one another and hoped for another day of
sports. This can be illustrated by the fact that many non-Aboriginal teams refused to play
because they thought that the competition was not there.
The residential school did not focus on Native sports as an important element to their
physical education program; rather a more Westernized power and performance model was
implemented. It was what the civilized people were playing. Since most of the children were
taken from their homes at a young age they did not grasp the traditional sports that the Plains
Cree took part in at social gatherings as these gatherings were outlawed in the late 19th century.
The children would only know European sports, which were based on a “modern travel and
communications, competitive, commercialized, and homogenized”24 type of model. Therefore
many of the students participated in hockey, ball, curling and a variety of sports while Native
sports were no longer permissible.
A former student, Teddy Hodgson, was a source of pride in Hobbema when he was
picked up by the Estevan Junior Hockey Club in Saskatchewan, a team that went on to win the
1966 provincial championship. Teddy went on to play with the Edmonton Oil Kings against the
23
24
Herman Cutknife, Personal Interview by Terry Foureyes, 14 April 2005.
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 89.
12
Oshawa Generals scoring “once in the fifth contest and slammed home the winning goal in the
sixth, the goal which brought the Memorial Cup to Edmonton.”25 He would later make it into the
NHL and play for the Boston Bruins.
The missionaries in charge of the school had high hopes and expectations regarding the
outcome of assimilating the population to their own religious and educational standards. In the
late 1960s it was believed that: “With its three remaining churches, its modern schools, its
diverse organizations, its predominantly Catholic population, its religious life, its vigorous and
promising youth, Hobbema is a star of first magnitude among all our missions.”26 However, it is
now recognized that the residential school was an institution that stole the traditions of the
Aboriginal people and created an identity crisis that still exists today. When the residential
schools were abolished in the 1960s the children returned home unsure of the cultural values and
practices that had been passed on for generations. The residential system had not succeeded in
completely eliminating Native culture but it did limit the power to pass on the traditions, which
was vital to sustaining the games and ceremonies. When children were returned to their Native
families, the culture was broken. Since the Plains Cree language and practices were condemned,
children did not have a strong sense of Native identity, which was a focus in their Native culture.
White culture did not replace Native culture but it did infiltrate it, bringing with it a new identity.
1950s: CREATION OF A SEPARATE ABORIGINAL IDENTITY
The 1950s was a pivotal point for Aboriginal people in Canada because we begin to see
the decline of residential schools and an increase in civil right movements against oppression. In
order to understand where this movement began one must first look at the time period around
25
26
Breton, Hobbema, 50-51.
Breton, Hobbema, 53.
13
World War II. According to Hargreaves, Aboriginal communities started to become more
urbanized and take on a more political role in their tribal affairs. This was done by many
migrating into cities and “resulted in the emergence of multitribal communities and supratribal
politics.”27 Another influence on Aboriginal rights was the Black civil rights movement in the
United States. There was a focus on the oppression of minorities and “validated separatist
politics and the quest for identity . . . . Indigenous peoples were engaging in activist politics and
Aboriginal ideas and sensitivities were embodied in the political rhetoric and ideologies of
‘multiculturalism’.”28 Those individuals who were considered Aboriginal (Metis, Inuit, and First
Nation) believed under Canadian law they should have the same rights as any other human
being. It was okay to express Aboriginality and feel proud. Decolonization began to take place in
Canada when Aboriginal people began resisting residential schools and began fighting for
‘Aboriginality’. Aboriginal peoples began showing resistance to a long history of racism and
subordination in Canada.
Aboriginal Communities also began organizing sports programs that would grasp
European sports while at the same time reverse the privileging of European culture over
traditional culture. This was done to show the importance of local culture and recreate and
redefine Canadian communities and identities. Aboriginals were trying to create a common
culture, which would be different from the culture of earlier prehistoric times.
In Hobbema, when the residential schools declined, there was a feeling of freedom as the
local population was no longer controlled by Catholic authority and could have some control
over its affairs. In 1950s, there were two main reasons why the downfall of the residential school
in Hobbema occurred. First, the federal government decided to place the funding for residential
27
28
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 83.
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 83.
14
schools upon the Church; however, the Church could not afford to support the school because
most of their funds were through donations and Native student labour. Secondly, there were
strong anti-racist movements going around in Canada. As a result, the residential school in
Hobbema ceased to exist in the 1960s.
In 1958, the government granted Hobbema and all other First Nations full control over
their oil and government funds. This meant that Hobbema could now control its own affairs and
develop programs for the betterment of the community and its people. Aboriginal people began
resisting any assimilation policies by the government and used the residential era as a reflection
of their resistance and a separate identity. In sports, this was done by incorporating two complex
identities into one. From here on, their education would still be under federal government
authority but under a new policy of integrating Indian students into the regular school system.
Because of the residential school in Hobbema, a separate identity from mainstream and
Aboriginal communities was present in the students that had once attended. Although the
residential school no longer existed, many of the Natives were left with the skills and knowledge
of European sports and incorporated it into their separate identity. They were given more
independence and control over their affairs to try and live like the rest of society. A process
known as self government started to spread among the Aboriginal communities across Canada
where they could assert “their right to make their own decisions in such vital areas . . . liberating
themselves from a state of dependence and government control.”29
The school became a battlefield for the Natives as they used education as a tool to
strengthen their identity as prosperous and independent Native people in Canada. The adoption
of European games resulted in pride in race and culture through the desire to excel and
strengthen community identity. Sports continued to be played throughout the four reserves and in
29
York, The Dispossessed, 26.
15
the new Ermineskin school. This was integral to their Indigenous lives. The community began to
decolonize from its experience at the residential schools. This was a process where Aboriginal
people tried to escape from psychological effects of colonial assimilation. One of their ways to
escape was through sports. By the end of the 1960s, Indigenous people were taking part in
activist politics and Aboriginal ideas and sensitivities were embodied in ideologies of
multiculturalism. For Hobbema residents, this meant that it was okay to feel proud of their
heritage and develop their own perception of sports—one that was distinct from the mainstream
while at the same time upholding their traditional values. For Hobbema, however, this hopeful
moment would soon end as the oil industry would be their downfall.
OIL MONEY: AN IRONIC TRAGEDY
Apart from Hobbema being different from the mainstream it was also different from
other First Nations communities. One important incident that took place in Hobbema was the
discovery of oil in the Pigeon Lake area in the 1950s. Pigeon Lake is controlled by all four
reserves in Hobbema, hence oil royalties were equally divided according to the land they owned.
The oil money that came in to the reserve did not take full throttle until the 1970s and would
have disturbing effects on the community. This money was thought to have been a blessing come
true for a more prosperous and healthier society as the people could now use the money for
programs and development. According to Geoffrey York in The Dispossessed, 70% of this
money was held in trust by the government and the rest was given out to each individual on a
monthly basis. Each family was receiving $3000.00 or more and when people reached eighteen
years of age they were receiving as much as $30000.30 Since this money came in a very short
time, it would have devastating socioeconomic effects. According to York, "when the flow of
30
York, The Dispossessed, 90.
16
money is too great and too sudden, it becomes yet another threat to traditional cultural values.
The shift from poverty to wealth was as wrenching as the shift onto the reserves in the nineteenth
century."31 Since the cultural values and practices were taken away from them through the
residential system, this would be even more devastating for the Plains Cree in Hobbema.
Money was being invested in all dimensions but the investments were not successful as
people in the community thought the money would last forever. Many of the buildings you see
today were built as a result of the oil money, such as the four band offices, the gas stations, a
bingo hall, a mall and four recreation facilities. Many of the facilities and programs still exist
today; however, not nearly to the potential Hobbema thought and could have been and this could
be due to several important factors. First, during this period, many of the people in Hobbema did
not have the education needed to manage and develop the skills required for successful programs
in the community. York argues that Hobbema "had no courses on economic planning or
budgeting. It was an endless flow of money without the requisite training."32 Moreover, there
was a lack of leadership to develop such programs. According to an article written by Peter
Cheney in the First Nations Free Press "The Money Pit: An Indian Band's Story," the money
that was given to the bands, particularly Samson Band, has been mismanaged for their personal
benefit while 80% of the population lives in poverty.33
The development of sports and recreation programs should have been a time of great
opportunity but only lasted as long as the money did. Sport and recreation was a favorite pastime
for the people in Hobbema. In order for Hobbema to be prosperous in all dimensions in their
society, they had to try and develop sports programs that would best fit the community. Sports
establish a bond between people and bring a community together. It could be a time to celebrate
31
York, The Dispossessed, 91.
York, The Dispossessed, 91.
33
Peter Cheney. "The Money Pit: An Indian Band's Story." First Nations Free Press 5.4 (April 1998), 10.
32
17
their Aboriginality. Money was being thrown at all types of sports as the community wanted to
be just like the rest of society. Sports were being used to establish a healthy and prosperous
society where children could take part in sporting events and be proud of themselves and their
community. This notion is similar to how Edmontonians celebrate the Edmonton Oilers and
believe that they live in a 'City of Champions.' The Hobbema Bear Hills Voice, a newspaper
created during this time of economic boom, had a number of advertisements for sporting
activities such as evening badminton tournaments and rodeo tryouts at the Panee Agricom. These
were mainstream sports which the people learned from the residential school era and were being
promoted in the community as part of the Native identity. Sports that were popular at this time
were boxing, baseball, rodeo and hockey. Baseball was being played within the four reserves and
challenges were made against other teams from towns and it did not matter if they were Native
or not. Baseball tournaments were being played outside the community as well as in the
community. Baseball tournaments would be a favorite for the community as "a red eye
tournament" was being played during the annual Ermineskin pow wow. Pow wows are
traditional festivities where Aboriginal people get together and watch dancers celebrate Native
traditions. This is a reflection that they not only incorporated into European sports but used
traditions to promote sports as well.
Rodeo played an important role in sports in Hobbema and a complex was built called the
Panee Agriplex for Rodeo events. Rodeo gradually became the basis of sports. At first, Native
cowboys took part in local competitions on the reserve and nearby towns. As the sport grew, so
did the involvement and a Native Rodeo Association emerged. This was a time for people to
come together and see their fellow community members take part in the rodeo. According to
Todd Buffalo, a Native from Hobbema: "Rodeo has become part of our heritage. Part of our
18
ability as athletes is to be able to compete one on one with the animal that was set here on earth
by the creator . . . . We have a bond . . . . Once you're a cowboy, you have to be proud to be a
cowboy, but most important you have to be proud to be an Indian cowboy."34 This is an
important part to them as an Aboriginal people as the animal and person are integrated.
Another important sport that thrived during this time was hockey. A hockey arena was
built in the late 1970s. A hockey team, the "Hobbema Hawks" was established in the 1980s and
played in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. In 1980, the Hobbema Four Band Recreation
applied for admission into the league and began to play in 1981. It would not be until the 199091 season that Hobbema applied for and was given a leave of absence due to financial
difficulties. All players were put in a draft for the other teams to choose from. In the 1992-93
season, Hobbema's leave of absence ran out and they ceased operations. An arena was built in
Samson, which would host the Hobbema Hawks and community members would gather at this
sporting event because it was seen as a time for bonding and bringing the community together.
These buildings and sports teams were established because it was a way to put Hobbema
on the map. Since money was flooding into the reserve, it could be put toward high-tech sporting
arenas and numerous sports programs. Sporting events were played during this time as a way to
celebrate traditions and bring communities from far away to share Aboriginal identity. The
decline of oil royalties would change all the enthusiasm for sports. When the money was running
out in the early 1990s, many of the programs ended. The Panee Agriplex no longer hosts rodeos
and the Hobbema Hawks ceased to exist, all because the money was not there, the result of poor
management. Baseball was not greatly effected as there is minimal equipment to be used and
players can simply just go to the ball diamonds to play. It was a chaotic time for Hobbema as this
34
Civilization, "Rodeo: What Makes a Native Rodeo Different?," (2001):
http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/rodeo/rodeo90e.html (accessed April 22, 2005)
19
windfall did not fulfill any high hopes and only left them with a sense of loss. Very few reserves
have ever been transformed from poverty to wealth in such a short time. It would be the lack of
leadership to manage such sports programs that would have an effect on the loss. This was not
only unique to mainstream society but as well from Aboriginal people across Canada, as
Hobbema became one of the richest reserves in Canada.
TODAY
Aboriginal people are cultural minorities and suffer socio-economic problems. Even
though Aboriginal people are not receiving health, educational and physical or recreation
services like the rest of Canadian society, they are trying to overcome these obstacles and
incorporate sports into their own definition of identity. They have been able to prosper in sports,
both in mainstream and through Indigenous sports organizations and competition. There are the
North American Indigenous Games and Aboriginal Circle, which are organizations for the
development of Aboriginal people across Canada. Both use European sports while at the same
time using traditional games to help the Aboriginal athlete excel. The Indigenous Games were
established by Willie Littlechild, a Hobbema resident, who has become a role model for
Hobbema because he has gone beyond the hardships many must face today. He obtained his
Masters at the University of Alberta and became an important political figure.
The sports that have come to be part of the Aboriginal peoples' identity reveal a complex
interaction between two forms of sport. First, there is the opportunity to make a mark in
mainstream sports, which are based on "ideologies of equality of opportunity and inclusion."35
That is focused on freedom from ethnocentrism and a sense of belonging to the wider
community. Second, there is a sense of resistance to assimilation policies by organizing all35
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 85.
20
Aboriginal organizations, which consist of Western-style sports or a way of recreating forms of
culture that include "traditional and authentic connection to pre-colonial history and identity."36
and act as a response to racist practices placed upon Aboriginal communities and as a result
trying to recreate their own identity. Natives are trying to build a nation that adopts Western
sports, while at the same time preserve their cultural heritage.
The only sports that made it through all the hardships were hockey and baseball. There
are many leagues for hockey and baseball teams. The remaining sports such as boxing and rodeo
are still practiced but are not as popular. Today, there is a strong sense of self-determination in
Aboriginal communities as they want to control their own affairs and that means their sport
development as well. They see recreation as a very important element to their development as a
prosperous community and as a way of construction their identity as a twenty-first century
Aboriginal person. Whenever you go to the schools, most Aboriginal students sport Nike,
Adidas, Reebok, etc. to show that they have adopted mainstream wear. Why? Noella Steinhauer's
article "Name-brand clothing, Native Values, and Community Status" argues that this is because
popular culture has become an important part of Aboriginal communities. "Like other
marginalized cultures, we buy the stuff of magazines and television advertisements to show that
we can live like everyone else."37
Aboriginal sport stars have also been able to act as active agents in representing identity
and differences; those local heroes include Willie Littlechild and Ted Hodgson. There are other
Native people from across Canada, like Jordin Tootoo, who has made it into the NHL and played
for the Nashville Predators and become a role model to many Aboriginal people because he has
been one of few Aboriginals to achieve his goals despite the struggles he faces. Whenever he
36
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 85.
Noella Steinhauer, "Name-brand clothing, Native Values, and Community Status," Canadian Social Studies, 31.4
(Summer 1997) 162-165.
37
21
comes to play at Rexall Place, Aboriginal people from Nunavut and surrounding reserves,
including Hobbema, come to watch him. They see Jordin Tootoo as a symbol of perseverance
and someone who has faced hardships due to past colonial practices by non-Natives. The Ottawa
Citizen asked Don Burnstick (a famous Aboriginal comedian) about how Jordin has been a good
role model. He answered, "I feel for him in that situation, on that pedestal . . . . There's so much
pressure because you live in a glass bubble. In the mainstream, he's a big name, but for our
people, he's our superstar."38
Many of those Aboriginal people who have been able to experience the world outside of
sports have been able to share their stories within their communities and develop a fresh outlook
on sports. According to Hargreaves, since they have gained status, their experience of oppression
and racism led them to create their own identity.39 In Hobbema, there are many ways to celebrate
being Aboriginal and that can be seen through all the sporting events that take place in the
community and the surrounding areas.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, sports in Hobbema have always played a significant part in the Indigenous
community, Prior to contact, games were invented and played based on their survival skills and
knowledge. As a result of contact with Europeans, the Plains Cree from Hobbema were
introduced to European sports through the residential schools. It was during this time that the
Canadian government tried to civilize the Indian and demolish the Indian status. This, however,
did not work as there were many civil rights movements that enabled Aboriginal communities to
gain independence. After the 1950s, many Aboriginal communities like Hobbema began to
38
39
John MacKinnon, "Tootoo carries hopes of Inuit," Edmonton Sun, 27 November 2004, C3.
Hargreaves, Heroines of Sport, 101.
22
strive for self-determination and take control of their own affairs. When the oil wealth hit
Hobbema, the people were not prepared to take on such a large responsibility and inevitably this
led to the downfall of many sports in Hobbema. Today, they are learning from their past
mistakes and are trying to make a difference in their lives. Whether it is through European sport
and/or adding traditions to their sports, this is the basis of their identity. They have not only
established an identity that is different from mainstream society, but from other Aboriginal
people as well because of the obstacles they have encountered. Today, many Cree still dream
about the time when the place was called Nipisihkopahk, "Land of the Willows," but they are
starting to realize that those times are gone. In order for Hobbema to keep up with the outside
world, an identity that is distinct from mainstream and other Aboriginal communities alike will
always remain—one that will always highlight a true sense of dignity, one that will always be
'Aboriginal.'
23
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