That Black people created it?
According to historian Chris Stevenson, hockey, as its played today, did not exist before 1815 until a group of children from four Black families – Courney, Williams, Munro, and Leale – played the game in an area of Nova Scotia known as the Northwest Arm during the cold winter months. These families were said to be from the Chesapeake Bay area of the mid-Atlantic United States.
Patriotism is a strange creature. The Black man, since the earliest days of Canadian history, has been one of the greatest defenders of Canada. And yet, his accomplishments have never been fully told nor recorded. It is as if the Black man had never existed. In fact, if it had not been for the Black man carrying a rifle, Canada herself would have never existed. From the earliest days of British North America and the landing of the Black Loyalist forces in Nova Scotia, through to the War of 1812, and beyond, Black regiments served with distinction along the borderlands separating the British and their Canadian counterparts from the Americans. During the American attack on Canada in 1775 and the subsequent siege of Quebec City, it was a Black Canadian regiment, that comprised part of the “undaunted fifty,” who defeated the Americans beneath the Citadel of Quebec.
The first recorded mention of all-Black hockey teams appears in 1895. Games between Black club teams were arranged by formal invitation. By 1900, The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes had been created, headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Despite hardships and prejudice, the league would exist until the mid-1920s. Historically speaking, The Colored Hockey League was like no other hockey or sports league before or since. Primarily located in a province, reputed to be the birthplace of Canadian hockey, the league would in time produce a quality of player and athlete that would rival the best of White Canada. Such was the skill of the teams that they would be seen as worthy candidates for local representation in the annual national quest for Canadian hockey’s ultimate prize – the Stanley Cup.
According to historian Chris Stevenson, hockey, as its played today, did not exist before 1815 until a group of children from four Black families – Courney, Williams, Munro, and Leale – played the game in an area of Nova Scotia known as the Northwest Arm during the cold winter months. These families were said to be from the Chesapeake Bay area of the mid-Atlantic United States.
Patriotism is a strange creature. The Black man, since the earliest days of Canadian history, has been one of the greatest defenders of Canada. And yet, his accomplishments have never been fully told nor recorded. It is as if the Black man had never existed. In fact, if it had not been for the Black man carrying a rifle, Canada herself would have never existed. From the earliest days of British North America and the landing of the Black Loyalist forces in Nova Scotia, through to the War of 1812, and beyond, Black regiments served with distinction along the borderlands separating the British and their Canadian counterparts from the Americans. During the American attack on Canada in 1775 and the subsequent siege of Quebec City, it was a Black Canadian regiment, that comprised part of the “undaunted fifty,” who defeated the Americans beneath the Citadel of Quebec.
The first recorded mention of all-Black hockey teams appears in 1895. Games between Black club teams were arranged by formal invitation. By 1900, The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes had been created, headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Despite hardships and prejudice, the league would exist until the mid-1920s. Historically speaking, The Colored Hockey League was like no other hockey or sports league before or since. Primarily located in a province, reputed to be the birthplace of Canadian hockey, the league would in time produce a quality of player and athlete that would rival the best of White Canada. Such was the skill of the teams that they would be seen as worthy candidates for local representation in the annual national quest for Canadian hockey’s ultimate prize – the Stanley Cup.
