Huge Indigenous hockey tournament combines celebration of the game and culture

What might seem like a normal March break week for many, will for some be an immersion in one of the largest hockey tournaments in the country.

From March 10-14, an estimated 10,000 hockey players and families from around Ontario will descend on Markham, located northeast of Toronto, as the Little Native Hockey League is celebrating and hosting its 50th edition of its tournament.

This event showcases the talent of Indigenous youth, and celebrates the connection of sport, history and identity. It is rooted in Indigenous practices, amplifies important beliefs and celebrates hockey with inclusiveness and generosity.

This year's theme is "Honouring the Water" and seeks to teach participants and the wider community about the water crisis in different Indigenous regions in Turtle Island. Turtle Island is how the lands now known as North America are referred to by Indigenous people according to their origin stories. A documentary film, Boil Alert, about the water crisis will be screened twice on Sunday as well.

The tournament started in 1971 with 17 teams. In 2024, LNHL is expecting 245 teams with at least 38 teams being for girls only while dozens of others are mixed gender. There are hundreds of volunteers for the event and more than 4,000 certified bench staff.

Over the course of four days, 574 games will be in arenas across Markham with the tournament finals at the Angus Glen Community Centre. It's a huge economic boost as local hotel, restaurants and other businesses have been preparing for the event, helped by Indigenous Tourism Ontario.

On Sunday, the Markham Civic Centre will host music, hoop dancing, drumming and other artists, and there will be a sunrise ceremony on Sunday and a sacred fire will be lit and remain burning all day.

Pamala Agawa will be there in her capacity as a coach. Agawa is from the Batchewana First Nation and works with the Keewatin-Patricia School Board. She got involved with the LNHL because of her daughters. Agawa did not play hockey until she was in her twenties, but she grew up watching her dad.

Agawa says that although her own daughters live far away from their Indigenous community, the opportunity to play in this tournament filled the need for connectedness.

"They've created friendships that will last forever," she says of her daughters, describing the tournament as a "big family reunion."

And she doesn't plan on stopping when her two daughters are no longer eligible.

"I won't stop when the girls age out," she told me via Zoom. "Staying involved teaches the youth to grow up and lead."

Marian Jacko is a mother, lawyer and advocate, and was formerly the president of the LNHL. She is from the Wiikwemkoong First Nation. I have long admired Jacko and have worked with her on panels about anti-racism work in hockey.

Her involvement began when her young daughters wanted to play hockey more than 15 years ago. They played rep hockey in the city but participating with their community gave them an overwhelming sense of pride for who they are.

"My daughters were interested but my son wasn't interested," she said to me, laughing over the phone. "I guess I lived vicariously through them because when I was young, girls didn't really play hockey. Only boys did."

Jacko encouraged her daughters and grew to love the game, too. She started off as a volunteer handing out programs during the tournament. After a few years as a volunteer, her professional skills were called upon and she helped the executive create a strategic plan, and then was asked to join the executive board and then president in 2019 before being named to Hockey Canada's board of directors in 2022.

She will be cheering from the stands and enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere before the games start on Monday.

Jacko told me that although many of the LNHLers play in almost every tier of hockey, this particular tournament is impactful for many reasons.

"The LNHL started as a response to racism experienced by kids in Manitoulin Island," Jacko said.

Only Elder James McGregor remains of the original group of Earl Abotossaway, Norman Debassige, and Jim Debassige. A former chief of the Whitefish River First Nation, Elder McGregor will be honoured at a gala on Saturday night.

The original founders were keen to create an educational and welcoming space for Indigenous youth to play hockey. Indigenous youth continue to face racism in traditional hockey models to this day. But the LNHL is created by Indigenous people for Indigenous people and weaves in four pillars that all participants adhere to: sportsmanship, respect, citizenship, and education, tied together create a bond that according to the LNHL, "honours all people."

New inductees will be announced into the LNHL Hall of Fame, including former NHL coach Ted Nolan, and former PHF and NWHL player Kelly Babstock.

I asked Jacko how all the remote communities afford travel and hotels for this week. She said that a handful of the families apply for government funding through Jordan's Principle, a program that offers financial access when children and families need it. This includes access to mental health and recreational service, as well as fees for the LNHL. But more regularly, the day after the tournament ends, communities start fundraising for the next year. This event is the annual highlight for the players and the families.

Among the main corporate sponsors of the tournament are Scotiabank, Jumpstart, Ontario Power Generation, and other partners include Ontario Tech University, Equity Hockey Equality and the NHLPA. While the tournament is for Indigenous youth only, the family fair is open for all.

Indigenous hockey players have left their mark on the game. NHL players like Carey Price and Ethan Bear are very well known. There are several Indigenous women's hockey players in the PWHL: Jamie Lee Rattray, Abby Roque, Jocelyn Larocque and Victoria Bach. This gives young players an opportunity to visualize what they can achieve, while basking in family and community love and encouragement as they grow.

Little Native Hockey League is not only the essence of what hockey means, it's a model of how hockey should be.