For thousands of years before European contact, Aboriginal people held games throughout the continent of North  America. In fact, historical records suggest that many modern team sports were derived from traditional Indigenous games.

For example, Lacrosse is a traditional Aboriginal sport, originally played for days at a time on fields several kilometres long. Distinct Lacrosse communities were distinguished by their types of sticks, balls and dress.

Lacrosse was revered for its healing power, believed to teach courage, strength, honour, respect, generousity and fair play. It requires stamina, ball handling, and teamwork skills, and game strategies.

Traditional Indigenous games taught personal and social values reflected in the lifestyles and cultures of Aboriginal People to the present day.

Qualities such as honesty, courage, respect, personal excellence – as well as gratitude for the guidance of parents, elders, and communities – prepared children and youth for the responsibility of adulthood.

In this sense traditional Indigenous games help promote the holistic concepts of physical, mental, emotional, and the spiritual growth of the individuals who participate in them.

Traditional Inuit Games and Games of the Arctic

The Inuit have always enjoyed a variety of games and sports that vary according to community custom and tradition.

Skills developed by these games often involve a combination of physical strength, agility, and endurance, which were necessary for everyday survival in the harsh environment.

Take for example the tug-o-war, this game has many versions. In the ‘tugging’ game known as Ac Sa Raq, contestants sit on the ground facing one another, legs straight, with their feet placed against the opponent's feet. The intent is to pull the opponent up off the ground.

Bone puzzle ( Inukat) is one of the many games of skill and chance. Players are given a bag of approx. 41 animal tarsal bones – a mix of seal, bird and bear – to reconstruct a seal’s fin. The first player to correctly finish the puzzle wins. The game is complicated by disallowing certain bones. Inukat requires specific skills, both mental and psychomotor to complete.

Other games include juggling, and blanket toss. Blanket toss is a game often played at festivals and other Inuit celebrations and is reminiscent of non-Inuit contests that use a trampoline. The ‘blanket’ is usually made from seal or walrus skins.

Many Inuit games are traditional and require athletic ability, but little equipment, such as high-kick jumping games. In the Holman Island area of the Northwest Territories, the game of Aratsiaq involves suspending a small target (such as a piece of bone or fur) at a given height.

According to the Northern Games Association, a player may not be more than 10 feet from the target when the jump starts. From a standing start with both feet together on the ground, a player jumps up to kick the hanging target with one foot.

The target must be clearly struck by one foot and the landing must be on the same foot that kicked the target. Balance must be maintained on landing. Games are played in rounds and the order of play is determined by a draw.

The target is raised a few inches in each round, and players are eliminated when they fail to kick the target. Any player may ‘decline’ to jump when the target is raised.

In an even more challenging variation called Akratcheak, a player jumps and attempts to kick the target with both feet and land back on the ground in a standing position.

Traditional Games of the Métis Nation

The Métis Nation emerged from the union of voyageurs of European descent and Native women during the fur-trading era in Western Canada. It developed its own culture with elements taken from both the European and Aboriginal cultures.

Until the middle of the 19th century, the main concern of the Métis was primarily to survive so their sports and games were usually based on everyday survival skills needed for hunting bison and trading furs.

For example, sharp-shooting, wrestling, running and horse races honed skills essential for hunting, defending the community or working in the fur trade.

The Métis Nation demonstrated great skill on their horses, performing acrobatic feats while on horseback and picking up objects from the ground while at full gallop. They also contributed to the evolution of hockey, initially skating on blades of bone.

Today many festivals and games still celebrate the Métis traditions. For instance, since 1967, the Festival du Voyageur in St. Boniface,  Manitoba has organized ‘le Concours du meilleur’ or the Contest of the Best. Typically held in winter, this competition has evolved into six categories: log sawing, arm wrestling, pillow fights, barrel rolling, Indian wrestling and leg wrestling.

Seasonal festivals have kept the Aboriginal and Métis traditions of the fur-trading days alive. Trappers' Festivals like the one held in The Pas, Manitoba is renowned for its Dog Derby, which uses popular northern dog breeds like the Husky to pull sleds that originally would have carried fur pelts.

[Sources: The Northern Games Association; The 2006 Inuit Games; The North American Indigenous Games, 2002; Living Traditions: Museums Honour the North American Indigenous Games]

Archery

Archery was essential to early Aboriginal life in many areas. Bows and arrows were designed for a specific need. For example, lighter bows were used on the open plains, while smaller bows and arrows were used on horseback. Bows and arrows were sized and weighted for the user.

Common archery games involved shooting for speed, shooting at moving targets, or shooting for accuracy. Archery requires a lot of practice, dexterity, hand-eye coordination and skill.