Spotlighting UofR athletes who embrace their Métis heritage
Truth and Reconciliation Day, Sept. 30, was established as a day for recognising the survivors of residential schools and the horrors they endured as we move forward towards reconciliation. The University of Regina (UofR) has a wide range of athletes within our varsity programs stemming from many different cultural backgrounds and we are honoured to put the spotlight on some of the UofR’s Indigenous athletes.
Noah Pelletier
One of these students, Noah Pelletier, is a sixth year quarterback for the Regina Rams. He is of Métis heritage but did not know his heritage until he was in his late teen years. Now, he is growing in his identity as a young adult.
After graduating high school, Pelletier was able to join the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teachers Education Program (SUNTEP) to assist him throughout his Education degree and learn more about himself and how to incorporate his culture within his teaching career and the education system.
Pelletier takes a lot of pride in being a role model for young Indigenous athletes through his career and coaching. “I’ve been able to work with a lot of Indigenous kids and a lot of Métis kids, kind of just putting it out there that I’m Indigenous too and that it isn’t a barrier to your success,” he shared.
Pelletier acknowledges that discourse is key within his team. “There are a couple other teammates that I have who are Indigenous, who are Métis, so it is nice to be able to talk to them about their experiences because everyone has a different journey growing up, or a different relationship with their culture.”
Pelletier is a homegrown Regina athlete. He is an alumnus of Balfour Collegiate and has spent his entire football career playing in the city, where being so close to the Saskatchewan Roughriders had a big impact on him.
In June, the Roughriders unveiled a new logo with the help of Chris Chipak, a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, who created an Indigenous design for them. The Roughriders used it during their Kisiskatchewan game and have started selling merchandise with the redesign on it.
Pelletier noted that the logo redesign from a local professional team is a huge step towards reconciliation. “I think that’s so powerful. The Riders have a huge fan base, and integrating that is such a cool thing.”
Pelletier takes a lot of pride in being a role model for young Indigenous athletes through his career and coaching.
Trinity Grove
Another Indigenous athlete taking the sports world by storm is Trinity Grove, a fifth year defenseman with the women’s Cougars hockey program. Grove is also of Métis heritage and is an outspoken advocate for Indigenous athletes on campus.
Grove grew up in Manitoba and was involved with Métis dancing as a young child. When she came to university, the understanding that she had of her culture began to grow further. “Coming here, I’m registered through First Nations University, and involved with the student athlete group. I feel like my university career is when I really started to reconnect and get involved more in the culture, and learn more about my family history.”
Grove feels that being from Manitoba has played a major role in her understanding of her culture within her sport. She even had the opportunity to be a part of specialized Indigenous female athletic programs. “I was involved and got to meet a lot of girls through just tryouts with that team and I also played basketball for the North American Indigenous Games.”
The women’s Cougars Hockey team did a training camp this season at Thunderchild First Nation and Grove felt the impact close to home. “Getting to interact with these kids who have maybe never seen a university athlete before, and an Indigenous university athlete. Like, they didn’t even know that was possible for them. It’s just nice to be a role model and be able to be like, hey this is something you can work towards.”
Grove feels that being from Manitoba has played a major role in her understanding of her culture within her sport.
The Indigenous Athletes Circle
Last season, Grove became a founding member of the Indigenous Athletes Circle, a group for UofR Indigenous student athletes in both varsity and club varsity programs. Indigenous athletes come together in this circle and share experiences and gain support from one another. Grove is looking forward to the growth this season.
“That first meeting kind of laid the foundation for what we wanted to see in the group and how we want to be supported. And from there, we just kind of kept growing and growing,” she said.
In April, she got to speak at the Athletic Awards Banquet about the program and what it was doing for Indigenous athletes on campus.
As another member of the circle, Pelletier said, “I’ve been to a couple of their sessions. I think it is a super important thing to have, and even just in the few sessions I went there, I got to see how much it’s growing.”
Pelletier and Grove are just two of the UofR’s Métis students who are representing Indigenous people in athletics and who are paving the way for other Indigenous students to represent themselves in athletics programs.If you are an Indigenous athlete interested in joining the Indigenous Athletes Circle, feel free to contact Trinity Grove via email at tcg638@uregina.ca. They would love to see you there!
