Jeux sportifs et religion amérindienne

Abstract

Religion and recreational sports practices are intimately linked in Native American culture. Some stories attest to the origin of the game offered to men by tutelary spirits, the latter having acquired their own status through the game. According to some legends, the organization of the world derives from sport encounters between humans or animals. Mythology relates the dealings of civilizing heroes, who, as true tricksters, use cunning and games to play tricks on others. The mythical–religious elements in traditional sports also express themselves through a wide range of ceremonial rites related to death practices, climate conditions, illness and fertility. The institutionalization of traditional sport has provided religion with a new basis of expression that, although failing to give international visibility to Native American athletes, allows them to find a balance between their traditional values and the modern world.

First Nations Women, Games, and Sport in Pre- and Post-Colonial North America

“…It was therefore possible to highlight the fact that Indian women took part in sports practices, and were even able to reinvest their skills in boarding schools until the 1930s, when political reorientations caused them to sink into a long eclipse of silence. 68 More particularly, in the case of the Fort Shaw 'Blues' , they succeeded in imposing themselves over their opponents, and extending their impact well beyond their school. Yet, shaking up the gender order and racial order in this way could not last, and opportunities to practice disappeared for a long time.…”