Sam McKegney – The Conversation

The Beardy Blackhawks show solidarity after a game, thank each other and bring the game to a close, at Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation, Sask., Nov. 21, 2019. Robert Henry

November 25, 2019

Bring back Beardy’s Blackhawks: Indigenous hockey team eliminated from Sask. league

Sam McKegney, Queen's University, Ontario; Bobby (Robert) Henry, University of Saskatchewan, and Jordan Koch, McGill University

The Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) recently eliminated the Beardy’s Blackhawks Midget AAA team — but needs to reconsider the team’s crucial community role in an era of reconciliation.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for culturally relevant programming for sport officials as well as anti-racism awareness training. Here, former Chicago Blackhawks player Fred Sasakamoose is honoured at an Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks game in 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

May 22, 2019

Home game: Rethinking Canada through Indigenous hockey

Sam McKegney, Queen's University, Ontario and Michael Auksi, University of Toronto

If hockey is to be a sport that brings people together and fosters what’s best about Canada, it needs to reckon with Canada’s – and hockey’s – history of racism and settler colonialism.

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