The 31st edition of the CREE Senior Hockey & Broomball Tournament took place in Val-d’Or and Senneterre December 8-11. And as usual, the attendance of an estimated 3000+ people from Cree communities across northern Quebec and Ontario transformed Val-d’Or into the Cree Nation capital – at least for a weekend.
This year’s tourney saw participation by 44 men’s and women’s hockey teams and 21 women’s broomball teams, playing a grand total of 142 games over four days.
Founded in 1980, the CREE Senior Hockey Tournament was initially designed as a fundraising event for a hockey team organized by the Grand Council of the Crees called the CRA Drummers.
“They invited teams from the Cree communities and the Algonquin nations and put a tourney together,” explained Charles J. Hester, a tournament organizer and Recreation Director in Waskaganish. “It has grown every year since then. There was eight teams in that first year, and this year we have 65 teams.”
One aspect of the tournament that helps make it the biggest First Nations tournament in Quebec and one of the largest, if not the largest, in Canada is the prize money. This year, over $75,000 in prize money was paid to winning teams. However, the objective of the tournament is to raise funds to be used for programs in Cree communities.
“In previous years, the tournament has raised anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000, even $50,000 – from the gate, sponsors and other fundraising inside the building, like raffle tickets,” said Hester.
“All the proceeds go to the Cree Nation Bears midget AA hockey program, or bantam CC program. It also goes to summer hockey programs. And we do sponsor kids that are gifted so that they can pursue school or sports outside the community. The money raised in the tourney goes back to the kids.”
The tournament has evolved since its early days in the 1980s, becoming better organized, more family-oriented and providing more serious and entertaining competition.
“Most of the people who were here in the 1980s realize it is a different event now,” Hester explained. “Back then, there was a bar here (in the arena) and they served beer. It wasn’t a good scene. Sometimes there was more action in the stands then on the ice. I remember coming to play here when I was 15 and having to walk through puddles of beer to get to the ice.
“But then the decision was made to close the bar and it is much better now. The players are much more serious, and more competitive. There are players who play recreational hockey. But don’t misunderstand, it is very serious hockey. People like to win and it is a better show than it was back then.”
One of the biggest changes to the tournament has been the recent inclusion of non-Native teams, including the two Class A teams from Val-d’Or and Amos that met in this year’s final.
“It has been a positive thing,” said Hester of the participation of non-Native teams over the last few years. “The teams in Val-d’Or and Amos are very strong, and I don’t know how (Cree) people will feel about their participation. But as far as hockey is concerned, when we invited the (non-Native) teams, they bring up the level of the hockey that is played.”
The participation of non-Native teams may be a subject of debate among tournament participants and organizers after this year’s Class A hockey final saw two non-Native teams face-off in an entertaining matchup eventually won by Amos. However, one Cree spectator was overheard describing the Class A final between Val-d’Or and Amos “like watching Belarus and Ukraine in the Olympic gold medal game”. Not surprisingly, the crowd was sparse for the Class A final, which is the main event of the tournament and typically heavily attended.
CREE Hockey – A Meeting Place
While the prize money and competition are major incentives for teams to participate, the tournament has gained importance in the Cree Nation for more than just the hockey; it has become an event where people from Cree communities across the north gather together, overcoming the great distances that exist between some communities.
“It’s the biggest gathering of the Cree Nation,” said Hester. “There are other gatherings. There are conferences and the Annual General Assembly. But those other events are attended by select people. Here, anyone can come, put together a team. People can come and get together with their friends and their family; people from the south and from other nations. It is very important to the Cree community as a whole.”
The tournament has also provided attendees with the opportunity to meet new people. Indeed, many married couples are eager to talk about how they met, and how their romance blossomed on a cold Val-d’Or weekend, at one of CREE Senior Hockey Tournaments over the years. Although it is not documented, some people believe that the tournament contributes to a higher than usual birthrate in the month of August each year, nine months after the tournament.
“Last year, at the 30th annual tourney, we were having fun sitting with the other recreation directors and I asked them, ‘Do you know anyone who met their wife or husband here at the tourney?’ and everybody raised their hand,” recalled Hester with a smile.
“It is the time that the Cree get together and people meet each other and then long-term relationships get started. Many of the people you meet here who are husband and wife, chances are they met here at the event.”
For many people, the old saying “hockey is life, the rest is just details” are just words on a t-shirt. But for the Cree who attend this annual tournament, no truer words could be spoken.
