ABSTRACT
Programs in support of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) have the potential to co-transform all participants – those who come to share their knowledge of ‘sport’ along with the participants who live in the communities engaged in these programs. Dene and Inuvialuit peoples in Canada can claim as one cultural strength their connectedness to the land. Contrasting this pattern, North American youth are increasingly detached from nature and its associated benefits. SDP provides a unique opportunity for all those involved – administrators, leaders and participants – to deepen their connectedness to the land and related physical activity practices. Drawing on a Strengths and Hope analysis, we first argue for the broadening of ‘traditional sport practices’ to ‘traditional physical activity practices.’ Indigenous ways of knowing the land and accompanying physical activities are then outlined, and the argument made that this knowledge could become a focus of SDP programs by drawing on the expertise of Indigenous elders in a manner that potentially co-transforms all those involved by creating an awareness of local land-based practices that (can) inform and enhance physical cultural practices. This knowledge can help youth gain knowledge about traditional Indigenous cultural strengths and help them develop more meaningful links to the land.
