Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2013 Preparing the Canoe to Navigate the Storm: Sport for Development from a Suquamish Perspective Renée Kate Lani Wikaire Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PREPARING THE CANOE TO NAVIGATE THE STORM: SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT FROM A SUQUAMISH PERSPECTIVE By RENÉE KATE LANI WIKAIRE A Thesis submitted to the Department of Sport Management in partial fulfilllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2013 Renee Wikaire defended this thesis on the July 1st, 2013. The members of the supervisory committee were: Joshua Newman Professor Directing Thesis Jeffrey James Committee Member Michael Giardina Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the Suquamish and Quinault communities for opening up their homes and community to me. I can now say that have a family in both Suquamish and Quinault, and relationships that I will cherish forever. I must also make clear that although I am regarded as the “author” of this document, the true authorship belongs not only to I, but rather, to the Suquamish community members that I encountered on my visit to the Port Madison Reserve. Also, thank you to Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell my elder and visionary for your guidance and support. To my committee members, Dr. James, Dr. Giardina and Dr. Newman, thank you for believing in this project and supporting my research. To my fellow media lab comrades, Rachel, Mike, Chris and Cole, thank you for the support and constant intellectual stimulation over the past year. Lastly, to my family I would not be where I am today without your continual love, support, and guidance and for this reason ‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini’ (My strengths are not mine alone, rather my strengths come from those who have and who continue to support me). iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER ONE: SUQUAMISH CANOE .................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 3 Indigenous People and Sport ...................................................................................................... 3 The Suquamish Tribe .................................................................................................................. 5 Introducing Sport for Development .......................................................................................... 13 The Need for a Decolonizing Praxis in SFD with Native American Communities ................. 17 Enlightened Axioms and SFD Praxis ....................................................................................... 17 My Project ................................................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER THREE:LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 23 Sport for Development .............................................................................................................. 25 Critiques of SFD ....................................................................................................................... 30 A Postcolonial Critique of SFD Discourses .............................................................................. 36 A Critique of Organizational Practice in SFD Programs .......................................................... 41 SFD in Native American Communities .................................................................................... 47 Toward a Culturally Relevant SFD: Lessons from the Suquamish .......................................... 53 An Indigenous Epistemology as Basis for Developing a Decolonizing Praxis ........................ 57 CHAPTER FOUR: METHODS ................................................................................................... 61 Paradigmatic Foundations ......................................................................................................... 62 Indigenous SFD: Indigenous Methodologies as Decolonizing Praxis for SFD ........................ 65 Red Pedagogy. .................................................................................................................. 65 Kaupapa Māori Theory. ................................................................................................... 67 Towards a Conversational Indigenous Methodology. ...................................................... 70 Collaborative Storytelling as a Conversation between Two Indigenous Peoples ..................... 72 Empirical Experiences .............................................................................................................. 74 iv CHAPTER FIVE: RESULTS ....................................................................................................... 76 The Journey to the Suquamish and Quinault Nations ............................................................... 76 Collaborative Storytelling Sessions with the Suquamish ......................................................... 90 Historical Connections .......................................................................................................... 94 A civilizing mission. ......................................................................................................... 94 The Suquamish, a pre-colonial canoe nation. ................................................................... 96 Tribal Canoe Journeys .......................................................................................................... 99 Canoe races prior to the Tribal Canoe Journeys................................................................99 The start of Tribal Canoe Journeys. ................................................................................ 101 Impetus behind the Tribal Canoe Journeys......................................................................104 Empowerment ..................................................................................................................... 109 Using indigenous culture as strength. ............................................................................. 110 Strengthening of Suquamish Culture since Tribal Journeys began. ............................... 113 Strengthening youth identity through culture. ................................................................ 116 Healing with each generation. ......................................................................................... 118 Spirituality and culture. ................................................................................................... 121 Tribal journey moments. ................................................................................................. 126 CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION ................................................................................................. 130 Histories of Colonization, Indigenous Peoples and Sport ...................................................... 131 Tribal Canoe Journeys: Paddling Against the Currents of (Neo) Colonialism ....................... 133 The Difference Between the Canoe Races Tribal Canoe Journeys ................................... 135 Self-determination of Indigenous Peoples as Decolonizing Praxis in SFD – Lessons from the Suquamish ............................................................................................................................... 138 Using Culture as Strength ................................................................................................... 139 Healing with Each Generation ............................................................................................ 141 The People are the Spirit of the Canoe, the Canoe is the Spirit of the People .................... 143 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 146 Implications ......................................................................................................................... 148 Tribal Canoe Journeys is not “sport”. ............................................................................. 148 Tribal Canoe Journeys is not “development”. ................................................................ 148 Pedagogic space for the Re-centering of indigenous Knowledge in SFD.......................149 v Trans-indigenous Conversation as a Decolonizing Praxis. ............................................ 150 Limitations of this Research Project ................................................................................... 151 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 154 A. APPROVED CONSENT FORM ..........................................................................................