Indigenous Youth (Non)Participation in Euro-Canadian Sport: Applying Theories of Refusal

in Sociology of Sport Journal

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Jessica R. NachmanSchool of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

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Lyndsay M.C. HayhurstSchool of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

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Audrey R. GilesSchool of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

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Rochelle Stewart-WithersSchool of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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Daniel A. HenhawkFaculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2021-0147
First Published Online:
09 Jul 2022
In Print:
Volume 40: Issue 1
Page Range:
3–10
Restricted access

Much of the research on Indigenous youth’s sport has focused on the barriers that they experience in accessing opportunities for participation. What remains underexplored is the idea that nonparticipation might actually reflect Indigenous youth’s deliberate refusal of Euro-Canadian sport. In making this argument, first, we connect Indigenous theories of refusal to Indigenous youth sport participation in Canada. Second, we examine the researcher’s role in reproducing colonialism in sport studies. Third, we apply examples of Indigenous refusal of sport. We conclude by discerning the central tensions of the topic and areas for future study. This paper is a call for researchers to study refusal, not only as an act by Indigenous youth, but also as a method that researchers can use in refusing to reproduce colonial representations of Indigenous youth.

Nachman (jessnach@yorku.ca) is corresponding author, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6081-0628

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