for over a decade of my life I was an athlete in a particular sport; I competed (+ placed) at a national level.

that sport is sprint kayaking - a practice that has a long, complicated relationship w indigenous culture. From nomenclature to certain races, there is appropriation

in Nova Scotia particularly, the canoe clubs are not only named after local bands and tribes, but are also located on (unceded) indigenous lands and waters.

canoe/kayak is a sport for privileged folks. it’s expensive, it’s time consuming, there is a lot of travel.

not only is the sport inaccessible to most, there is essentially zero (0) outreach or education regarding the history of canoe in Canada or the local indigenous peoples, whose names are (anglicized) and plastered all over club singlets, etc.

when I was in the sport I was much younger. I left canoe/kayak shortly before turning. the appropriation + lack of awareness did not occur to me then.

now, I am hyper aware of the fact that a community that borrows so heavily from indigenous cultures offers no support in return

I dont know what this point of this thread is really but i think it is incredibly important to reflect on / understand how we as settlers have benefited from indigenous cultures in all ways, w/o offering anything in return

to say we need to do more is an offensive understatement