Sport-for-development and the failure of aboriginal subjecthood: re-imagining lacrosse as resurgence in indigenous communities

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn November 1989, the United Nations initiated a fundamental shift in international support for the rights of children by introducing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As part of that Convention, the UN helped solidify the rights of children to engage in rest, leisure, play, and recreational activities introduced in article 31 of the resolution. As a result, the institutionalization of sport as a catalyst for social change – known as sport-for-development – and supposed ‘decolonization’ has flourished. This is particularly true in Canada where non-government organizations such as Right to Play have focused their attention on Indigenous youth. As this article will demonstrate, despite the claims that these sport-based initiatives are designed as vehicles for positive social change and decolonization, sport-for-development programmes have unwittingly embraced ‘shape-shifting’ forms of settler colonialism while continuing to reinforce existing structures. This has been masked by the ‘politics of recognition’ and the implementation of an ‘Aboriginal subjecthood’ at the expense of Indigenous identities and nationhood. And yet, there remains an opportunity for sport to play an active role in the re-empowerment of Indigenous communities and to act as a form of resurgence.