A hockey tournament in Quebec City grew ugly last week after a team of First Nations teenagers was taunted by racist slurs from opposing players and parents.
First Nation Elites manager Tommy Neeposh said the team heard similar slurs once before in Montreal but that the incident at the Couple Challenge Quebec tournament was far more heated. The AAA team consists of 13 to 15 year olds from First Nation communities in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Neeposh said the taunts started before the puck dropped for their first game and intensified. In video taken the fifth game against the Bulldogs de Quebec, crowd members can be heard calling the players “savages.”
He added that along with audience members, taunts were uttered by opposing players and at least one coach.
“The war cries were the worst, telling our boys that we don’t belong, our team sucks, Native kids can’t play hockey, they can’t skate,” said Neeposh. “You can hear the parents saying ‘gang de sauvage,’ and that’s when it hit me hard… I said ‘gang de racistes.”
On Friday, Quebec Native Affairs Minister Geoff Kelley tweeted about the incident, saying the government denounced the events.
In a statement, Bulldogs officials said the disciplinary committee is looking into the incident.
“We are against racist comments at every level and please know that it will be addressed,” they said.
Neeposh said he hadn’t personally heard from anyone with the Bulldogs and that he had filed a complaint.
