Indigenous Culture in Canadian Sports

This past week when not doing school work I enjoyed watching the Canadian curling trials. During the closing and opening cermonies their was Indigenous people's present being a part of the ceremonies for the athletes. In past years I have noticed they have done land acknowledgments at these types of events which of course was a step in a positive direction but these cermonies seemed like an even bigger step in the right direction. One thing I noticed was that the athletes almost seemed uncomfortable or unaware of how to act, of course I do not know this for certain but based off of body language and facial expressions I made this judgement. Reflecting on this I realized that when new things happen to individuals often they do feel uncomfortable so therefore I am not overly surprised. The positive of this is in order for individuals to grow and learn is to go through things that make them uncomfortable. Another positive I hope to come from this is that future generations sees this kind of acknowledgment and views it as nomal for years to come.
This entire scenerio reminded me of King's message of allowing Indigenous people to tell their story and I think including these different types of ceremonies and having Indigenous people show the world part of their culture which is exactly what King thought was lacking. It is encouraging to see changes being made.

Here is the closing ceremony that I was discussing.
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Makayla, I think this is a super important thing to point out in our current climate. We have certainly grown as a country together to focus harder on being respectful of the land and the Indigenous peoples who were on the land before us. It is incredible that as a whole it seems that these ceremonies and respect are becoming an expected part of major events in large groups and sports. I agree that it is something to be proud of, yet most of the peopel in our western culture do not know how to act in these situations. This reminded me of our sharing circle in class, I was scared and didn't know how to act when we stepped into the circle. However, the extremely welcoming presentation helped me grow and feel included in Indigenous traditions. This was a small moment for me, but it was very important for me feeling more informed and excited for the next time a situation like this would arise. I think as we continue to educate our kids and youth, the easier and more respected these events would be.