ALBERTA — The 7 Chiefs Sportsplex will welcome 12 days, 40 players, 282 hours of hockey and 3 million dollars raised for charity all while reconciliation discussions happen in the background.
From July 1 – 12, 2020, 40 brave men will take to the ice to beat the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest hockey game in the world. It will be an emotional 12 days for the players, the committee and the millions of viewers reading, tuning into national media coverage or visiting the 7 Chiefs Sportsplex on Tsuu’Tina land to cheer on the players.
The “Worlds Longest Indigenous Hockey Game Facebook Page wrote: “We are at a crucial moment in Canadian history to work towards reconciliation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Canadians.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC] perfectly summed up what working towards reconciliation means: ‘Working towards reconciliation, must inspire Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians to transform the Canadian society in a way that future generations can live together in dignity, peace, and prosperity.’
The TRC’s call to action #92 illustrates the important role that the Corporate sector play: ‘We call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.’
Corporations can find themselves wishing to seize the immense economic opportunities that working with Indigenous peoples could bring, while wondering what is the proper or best way to do it! The 2020 the World’s Longest Indigenous Hockey Game offers an exciting opportunity to take a first step in building a positive relationship with Indigenous peoples and showing the rest of Canada that working together is not only necessary and possible but also exciting!
We hope you will join us by supporting this great event to cheer on both teams as they attempt to beat the record.”
The page also insists that if you are an indigenous hockey player residing in Canada and you are 18 years or older and want to play in the game, email Ray Francis at ray@wlihg.com, as of September 18, they announced that they are still looking for players.
