In the end, the Olympic ice only saw a red cloud of jubilation. The final siren had barely stopped when women in Team Canada red jerseys flooded the ice and jumped into the air as one. The joy after the 3:2 was simply limitless. In the middle of the cloud Jocelyne Larocque. The 33-year-old defender made it exciting again at the end. At 3-1 for Canada she had to go to the penalty box. The USA reduced the power play to 3:2. But Canada did not allow more. And so, the team with two Indigenous players won against the one that had only one woman of First Nations roots on the ice.
Jocelyne Larocque, of the Metis Nation, claimed Canada’s second gold medal in their third Olympic appearance, while teammate Jamie Lee Rattray celebrated her first gold. At silver medalist USA, Abby Roque was the first indigenous athlete.
The cheers on the ice in Beijing were echoed at the Provincial Kitchen bar in Edmonton. Die-hard fans of the cult club Edmonton Oilers made it to the prime time of the evening to watch the women’s ice hockey final in their local pub. “Hey, our women are good, they will beat the USA,” said Cameron, one of the fans, to “nd” before kick-off.
Canada and the USA dominate women’s ice hockey. There are several reasons for this. The NCAA, the association for college ice hockey in North America, has held a women’s championship since 2001. In general, ice hockey has a higher status in North America; it’s just called hockey here and playing it on the ice goes without saying. And then there’s the sheer willingness of individual hockey girls to emulate their male peers.
As was the case with US player Abby Roque, a member of the Ojibwe First Nation. She was often there when her father, as a trainer, gave the boys tips and tricks. During breaks, she went onto the ice alone and tried out what she had just seen. Later she played in teams with the boys – and was always aware of her double special role. »In the USA, indigenous players are rather unusual. In conversations with other players, but also in dealing with the history of this sport, I noticed how many racist insults there were and are and how difficult it is for indigenous athletes,” she later said.
Jocelyne Larocque, of Metis ethnicity, came to ice hockey thanks to her sister.
Their Canadian rivals had it easier there. Indigenous educational institutions were founded there in the 1970s in protest against state boarding schools, where indigenous children were not only alienated from their culture of origin, but were also often mistreated and sexually abused. These new indigenous schools quickly established their own sports programs. That includes ice hockey. The Edmonton Oilers, for example, support the Ben Cafe Robe Society’s indigenous hockey academy. Former Oilers defenseman Jason Strudwick is the coach there: “We not only want to teach skills in hockey, but also provide a general sense of balance for the body as well as strength, flexibility and a sense of coordination. And we also want a friendly atmosphere of togetherness,« says Strudwick.
Such activities resonate well with white Oilers fans, says Cameron. “We also had an Indigenous player on the NHL roster last year in Ethan Bear. Unfortunately, the Oilers then sold him. But he was very popular among us fans, also because he came from here,” he says.
However, some Oilers supporters blamed Bear after a loss and racially abused him online. The player defended himself via Twitter: “I stand here to defend myself against this behavior. I’m proud of where I come from, proud to be from the Ochapowace First Nation.« He also explained that he would also spread this message »for the next generation, for change«. His call received a great response in Canada – and made him even more popular with the majority of fans.
The current Olympic champions also benefited from those sports infrastructures that were opened up to indigenous athletes or that were even created especially for them. Jocelyne Larocque, of Metis ethnicity, came to ice hockey with her older sister. In retrospect, she reports that she did not experience racial discrimination: »But I am aware of the history of our oppression. Even my parents familiarized me with it,” she told Canadian media. On the one hand, the fact that she was selected as the first indigenous Olympian for the Canadian ice hockey team in 2014 made her proud. “On the other hand, it’s also sad to be the first. Women’s ice hockey is still a relatively young sport. But they’ve been around for a few decades,” she said in 2014 on the occasion of her first Olympic victory.
She is now a highly decorated athlete, including two Olympic gold medals and two world titles. In Canada she is a well-known personality. She regularly visits First Nations schools and sports clubs. ‘I want to give an example. Because if you don’t find out about certain things, you can’t dream about them and take them as inspiration for your own life,” she says, explaining her commitment. Teammate Jamie Lee Rattray, also a Metis, has even opened her own hockey school and occasionally coaches indigenous teams in Toronto.
Larocque and Rattray are the faces of a change. Indigenous medalists in Olympic ice hockey existed almost 100 years ago. At the 1924 Games, Clarence “Taffy” Abel won a silver medal in ice hockey with the USA. However, he had previously always concealed his origins; otherwise he would hardly have made it into the »white sport«.
Abel was even the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. It’s time to give such an honor to indigenous athletes who no longer have to hide their origins.
