Sports hall of fame unveils Indigenous Sport Gallery
In 1898 William Good travelled to San Francisco to compete in a 440-yard race. Legend has it that he not only won, he set a new world record.
But when organizers found out he hailed from the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island, he was disqualified.
“They stripped him of his title when they found out he was Indigenous,” said Tewanee Joseph, a member of the Squamish Nation who’s a trustee at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. “He was considered the fastest man in the world, then they stripped him of the title. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Good’s disqualification is an example of the systematic racism that Indigenous people faced at the time. And his story was virtually forgotten, until now.
On Tuesday, Good’s feat was highlighted at the opening ceremony of a new Indigenous Sport Gallery at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. His family travelled from Vancouver Island for the ceremony, singing and drumming in a procession that blessed the new exhibit.
One of the displays tells Good’s story, alongside a thunderbolt carving that Squamish chief Joe Mathias gave to Percy Williams when Williams won the 100 and 200 metre dashes at the 1928 Olympics.
There are over 300 artifacts in the gallery, which is an expansion of an earlier Aboriginal gallery that opened in 2008. The old gallery was 300 sq. ft, the new one is 1,500.
Mandy Mathias-O’Donahue of the Squamish Nation thinks the new gallery is inspiring.
“This is really important for our people, to see a permanent (presence) here, recognizing the athletes of our different tribes,” said Mathias-O’Donahue, whose traditional Squamish name is Siyamnaat. “It’s important for them to be recognized and to be seen, it’s an inspiration for younger generations.”
Sports have always played a big part in local First Nations culture.
“I was a lacrosse guy,” said Joseph. “I grew up watching the North Shore Indians as a young boy, growing up on the reserve. We’d go play in the box during the week, then go to Friday night games. It was the best, it was exciting to hear the drums in the stands.
“(I thought) that’s what I want to be the rest of my life, a North Shore Indian.”
He would go on to captain the team. “Playing lacrosse really did save my life,” said Joseph, 46. “I was 10 years around the East End of Vancouver and stuff, and I’d keep coming back to play the game. Now to see it featured here in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame is unbelievable.”
Reg Underwood was the centre-fielder for the Victoria Bate Construction fast pitch team that won the 1976 world championship in New Zealand. He also won gold representing Canada at the Pan-Am Games in 1979 and 1983 in Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
Sports were a way of life for Underwood from childhood.
“I’m from a family of 14 and my cousin is from a family of 16,” said Underwood, who is from the Tsawout Nation in Saanich. “The competitiveness that we had at a young age (helped in sports), just picking teams and playing with doll heads as a ball and driftwood as a bat. We had no gloves, (but) we always had driftwood bats and went to the beach and hit rocks and stuff. So the eye-hand co-ordination was always there.”
The gallery even has its own totem pole.
“It’s called The Paddler,” explained Jason Beck, curator of the Sports Hall of Fame.
“It’s an 800 pound piece of cedar. Lyle Wilson was a student and carved this for us when the Hall of Fame first opened here at B.C. Place in 1995. Now he’s a world famous carver … (today) we couldn’t afford to get him in the door!”