Indigenous Liaison Committee

Background

Ryneld Starr and the Indigenous Participation Working Group and the BC Hockey board in the 2020-2021 season encouraged the minor hockey associations to engage with their local First Nations by appointing an Indigenous Liaison person to help their members better understand the cultural observances their players may be involved with which may affect their participation in team practices and games.

VFIHA canvassed our membership to find someone to fill this role.  There was enough interest that we decided to create a committee rather than have a single person take on this task.  The committee consists of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of VFIHA and other minor hockey associations.

Our initial meeting was with Wade Grant of the Musqueam Nation and Ryneld Starr who helped our non-Indigenous committee members better understand the three host First Nations in Vancouver.

There were a lot of ideas that came up at the meeting.

  • Hosting Indigenous Girls Come Try Hockey events (sponsored by BC Hockey).  Having had years of experience hosting CTH events and a very enthusiastic membership who volunteer at these events, it was easy for us to host these events twice a year.
  • The other idea was to have a female artist from our local First Nations create an Indigenous jersey crest for our teams. We are very fortunate to have been able to commission Debra Sparrow from the Musqueam Nation who also designed the Team Canada 2010 Olympics hockey jersey.  Introducing VFIHA’s Indigenous crest designed by Debra Sparrow
  • In addition to these two initiatives we annually award a scholarship to an Indigenous female official to attend the BC Hockey Summer Officiating School to encourage Indigenous girls to officiate and be trained to become skilled referees. This is a small step towards having Indigenous games and tournaments up to the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships crewed by Indigenous officials.
  • BC Hockey Officiating Clinics specifically for Indigenous youth and adults are hosted for both new and returning officials each season.  Hockey Canada, BC Hockey and the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity & Recreation Council (I-SPARC) provide funding.
  • We have also inaugurated a Indigenous Girls Jamboree held on the Labour Day Weekend where female members of BC Hockey come from around BC and the Yukon to play hockey together.  BC Hockey and the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity & Recreation Council (I-SPARC) provide funding. BC Hockey Video of Jamboree

These activities have given us very positive feedback from our three First Nations, the Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations who serve Indigenous girls and their families. When we first began, one of our parents said that it was the first time that our association had recognized the significance and importance of its Indigenous families.

There’s lots more we can do and we are finding ways of fulfilling them.