For the Cherokee people in North Carolina, the cultural tradition of stickball is more than a game. At a recent screening of the documentary She carries on, presented by the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE) and Hart House, the audience followed the story of a group of women from the Cherokee community who played the game at the turn of the 21st century for several years.
In the short film, the women reflect on the significance of stickball to their community and how they’ve had to enjoy it from the sidelines for many years because they were discouraged from taking part due to the game’s perceived violent nature. As the movie continues, it’s revealed that women had in fact been active participants more than a century ago until they were removed because the optics of the game didn’t agree with the Victorian notions of femininity.
Once they were ‘let back in’ at the turn of the 21st century, the women experienced, in their own words, exhilaration and absolute joy to be part of the game, describing it less as a game and more as something deeper – a sisterhood.
“I really appreciated paying witness to the physicality of these women, seeing how strong they are,” said Tricia McGuire-Adams, an associate professor at KPE, who was part of the panel discussion following the movie screening. McGuire-Adams is the first Indigenous faculty member at KPE whose research centres on studying Indigenous insurgence and practices of physical activity and health. “We see the impact that patriarchy and colonialism have had on this community, and we see the Cherokee women reclaiming their game.”
Sabrina Razack, an assistant professor at KPE and project lead for Canada at the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, said she really enjoyed the emphasis the women put on the sisterhood they had formed while playing the game. “Being a woman and existing within a patriarchy is hard work, so the spaces we create are vital. Women are still being chastised for working out while pregnant and we have to resist these kinds of attitudes in sport.”
Vanessa Treasure, director of fitness, wellness and recreation at Hart House, with a 15-year career in competitive swimming, said she had goosebumps while listening to the women in the film describe themselves as strong.
“From my own experience as an athlete, all that mattered to me as a woman in sport was to be strong, not the medals, just the awareness of the power and strength of my physical body,” said Treasure, who swam for the Varsity Blues while studying kinesiology at U of T.
Treasure, Razack and McGuire-Adams were all part of the panel discussion hosted by Associate Professor Caroline Fusco of KPE and Michelle Brownrigg, senior director and chief program officer for Hart House and alumna of the KPE program.
McGuire-Adams shared stories about her ancestors’ physicality, recalling a story her father told her about one of her ancestors going to check on the fishing nets under the ice in the dead of winter. She was pregnant and gave birth on the ice, returning to her community with a baby – and fish.
“Indigenous people are often described as being less healthy, having high blood pressure or diabetes, and while it’s important to study the historical causes of these chronic ailments, it’s important to pivot from that view to one of strength and resurgence,” she said.
Recognizing that strength of body and spirit and pairing it with the joy that comes from physical activity and being part of a collective is a powerful tool of resistance in spaces that aren't welcoming, said Razack, whose doctoral thesis focused on the Black Girl Hockey Club's quest for racial justice.
Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of KPE, closed off the event by remarking that while advances have been made in many areas, with more access to leadership positions for women in sport, there was still much work to be done, including the need to create more equitable access to sport and leadership and eradicate gender-based violence.
“We can’t take our foot off the gas,” said Kerr. “I am grateful for these conversations which help to highlight the challenges we’re still facing and provide spaces for valuable exchanges of insights and ideas to keep the needle moving forward.”