Contents
Author’s Note
Introduction
1. Under the Pear Tree: Proponents of cricket fought hard against the growing popularity of baseball, which originated in slavery.
2. It was Never Our Game: Early settlers appropriated lacrosse, changing both its name and purpose.
3. A Bible in My Hands: Ed Pinnance was the first “full-blooded” Indigenous player in major league baseball.
4. The Great White Hopes: Chatham-Kent’s Arthur Pelkey was one of the contenders enlisted to defeat Jack Johnson.
5. The Home Team Wears White: Members of the first Black team to win a provincial baseball championship became local heroes—temporarily.
6. Learning to Play Ball: Early Indigenous athletes leveraged athletic success to achieve political power at the regional and national level.
7. The Home Stretch: Horses have always featured prominently in the sporting life of both Black and Indigenous communities.
8. Not Canadian Enough: Interned Japanese Canadians were denied access to sports facilities and freedoms accorded to local German POWs.
9. Turning the Tables: A residential school survivor became a highly sought after hunting guide.
10. Ragging the Puck: NHL owners maintained a colour barrier long after amateur hockey was integrated.
11. Jump Jim Crow: The integration of local sports teams was instrumental in breaking barriers that had outlived legislation.
12. Double Play: Women of colour have long overcome both race and gender to excel in sports ranging from baseball to golf.
13. Sundown Town: CFL All-Star Rollie Miles was instrumental in overturning an unwritten law that prohibited Black residents.
14. From Archie to Gene: Beginning in the 1840s, athletes of colour were supported by a number of white allies.
15. The International Line: Three Canadian boys, two Japanese and one Black, became hockey stars known as “The International Line.”
16. A Parade for Fergie: Fergie Jenkins was the first Canadian inducted into major league baseball’s Hall of Fame.
17. Not Your Mascot: An examination of the long-standing practice of trivializing Indigenous history and symbols.
18. Making It Work: Bob Izumi became an internationally recognized fishing celebrity with a long-running television show.
19. Sticks and Stones: Indigenous communities are using sport to help their communities heal and strengthen.
20. Back in the Game: Indigenous women in sport are using athletics to help reclaim traditional gender parity.
21. Homecomings: Both official and grassroots initiatives are underway to right old wrongs.
Sources
Index
