When I read about the brawl that took place between players and fans at a minor hockey league game between a team from Lake Manitoba First Nation and non-native team from Stonewall, Man., I wasn’t surprised. I grew up in Lake Manitoba and played hockey there for seven years. I saw the tension that exists between First Nations communities and other communities in that region everyday. I remember a year when our Eagles team won a regional banner but never physically held it because the non-native team we beat, who was holding the banner in their town, refused to give it to us. I remember feeling confused and wondering why, and I still don’t know why. It was a clean and fair game, they just never gave the banner to us. I think when a non-native team plays a native team, there is this expectation that it will be an aggressive game. I remember my grandfather telling me before my first "contact" hockey game that he has never met a native hockey player who didn't like to body check and I wanted to live up to his expectations. In my experience playing hockey in rural Manitoba, I've seen and been a part of brawls that were the result of the tension between the communities and the physicality that hockey presents. I've also experienced racism — things said to me by opposing players but thankfully never parents.Get the Story:
Kyle Edwards: Racial tension between communities often spills onto ice (CBC 4/8) Also Today:
Hockey player, coach suspended for fight at Winnipeg tourney (CBC 4/8)
RCMP called in to break up Stonewall, Man., hockey brawl (CBC 3/31)
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