Three cheers for Mitchell Minor Hockey Throwing away 'Mohawks' name a big win By: Niigaan Sinclair Posted: 7:00 PM CST Friday, Nov. 23, 2018

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/11/2018 (2239 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Small town hockey is all about tradition.

I grew up in small town Manitoba, I get it.

Hockey traditions matter. I played in the “barn” (as we called the old arena in Selkirk) at 6 a.m. on the weekend. As did my dad, my uncle, my cousins, and others, too.

So, when I got a call from Chris Picklyk, president of Mitchell Minor Hockey, I understood what he was describing.

You see, for 40 years the youth hockey program in Mitchell — a town just west of Steinbach — has donned “Mohawks” as their nickname. Their logo is the well-known “chief” image, of a solitary, decapitated head-dressed “Indian,” reminiscent of the Washington Redskins or the (formerly known as) University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

This is the part where tradition creeps in.

Logos of Indigenous Peoples have a long history of misrepresentation.

They’re historically inaccurate, for one. The “Sioux Chief” image comes from the “Sioux Wars” in the 1890s when the United States invaded and perpetrated genocide on the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota peoples. Infamously led by Gen. George Custer, these wars captured the American public’s imagination and represented everything they imagined was fierce and tragic about Indians.

The problem was the Dakota, Nakota and Lakota were not acting fiercely — they were protecting their land, families, and life from being exterminated. “Warriors” were carrying weapons because weapons were being rained down on them. The end of these wars came — this is where the tragedy comes in — with massacres of families by the U.S. cavalry at Wounded Knee, S.D.

The second problem with Indigenous Peoples as logos is they’re profoundly disrespectful. They use what I call the “all Indians look the same” message. Rarely do logos reference the actual people, cultures or diversity of communities in a geographical area. They’re also always single, solitary, weapon-carrying men.

It’s like these images shape opinions that result in Indigenous Peoples ending up in jail… oh, wait.

The third problem with “Indian” sports logos and mascots is that they are worn by people playing a “game” where the goal is land theft, which is what hockey, football, basketball, and baseball are all about. Dressed in the colour of blood and using violence, players invade other territories, are rewarded, and then they dance about it.

Using Indigenous Peoples as winners or losers in these sorts of stories — which is what sports are, stories — is to replay and celebrate the same violent history that led us to the mess we find ourselves in today.

This is nothing to cheer about and certainly does not, in any way, “honour” people.

The Mitchell Mohawks logo encompasses all these issues. Mohawks call themselves Haudensonee, for one. Next, there are no Mohawks in Manitoba. Let’s try this: the Mitchell Mohawks logo is culturally a ripoff from Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota traditions. Shall I go on?

The issue, of course, is tradition.

“We have people on our board and in our community who have played hockey here for 40 years,” Picklyk told me, “Some have been Mohawk hockey players for life.”

He told me that some in Mitchell want to keep the name. A couple community members see this as honouring tradition. There are also some in the community who may not change: the Junior “C” Mohawk hockey team has not committed to changing yet, but is considering it.

“The board has talked for two years though, and attitudes are changing,” Picklyk said. “We think that we need to do the right thing and send a message to our kids.”

“We think that we need to do the right thing and send a message to our kids.”–Chris Picklyk, president, Mitchell Minor Hockey

We talked for about an hour and I promised I wouldn’t write about anything.

Like I said, I know about small town life and politics.

The call came back Friday.

“After we spoke, I did some research and spoke with parents and business owners,” Picklyk said. “Our board has also raised $17,500 from businesses in our community to help us change our name.”

The Mitchell Hockey Association is inviting community members to submit names for the youth teams. After one is chosen, the association will come up with a logo and order jerseys for the 2019-20 hockey season.

“Everyone I talk to now in our community is excited,” Picklyk told me, “even reporters.”

He then told me an article titled, Mitchell Mohawks Undergoing Name Change, was the lead story on Steinbach Online, as the local community news source was the first to break the story.

I wondered how many kids and their parents, getting up at 6 a.m., would be part of a new tradition. I had only one more question for him.

“Mitchell has very few Indigenous hockey players and families,” he informed me.

I told him I lived 15 minutes away.

“Oh,” he laughed, “I’ll see you at the rink.”

Yes, Chris, you will. Let me know when I can buy a jersey.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

Niigaan Sinclair
Columnist

Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe and is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press.

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