Braiding Counter-Stories: A Narrative Inquiry into Sport, Indigenous Identity, and Healing

This project used narrative inquiry to explore the sport, physical activity, and education experiences of Indigenous post-secondary student-athletes in the Canadian prairies. In Saskatchewan, where Indigenous peoples represent 17% of the population (Statistics Canada, 2022), their presence in university athletics reflects a striking gap in athletic representation. At the University of Saskatchewan, only 3% (13 of 420) of student-athletes identify as Indigenous (N. Orr, personal communication, October 2023). This underrepresentation prompted a critical question: Why do Indigenous student-athletes remain marginalized in post-secondary sport? While existing literature documents the systemic barriers Indigenous communities face in accessing education and sport, rooted in the enduring impacts of colonization, there remains a lack of research that centers the voices and lived experiences of Indigenous student-athletes themselves. Narrative inquiry, grounded in the dimensions of temporality, place, and sociality (Clandinin, 2013), offered a way for three participants—Phoenix, Lily, and Sam—to share their personal journeys across time, connecting past experiences to their current realities. To guide this work, the research team drew on the braid as a conceptual and ethical metaphor, inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass (2013). The braid, formed through the interweaving of Indigenous knowledge, story, and relational accountability, helped us hold the layered, temporal, and relational nature of the narratives. It did not replace narrative inquiry but deepened our commitment to honoring Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Data was generated through three in-depth conversations with each participant, focusing on early experiences, transitions into post-secondary sport, and present-day reflections. Each narrative revealed how sport served as more than physical activity; it became a site of healing, cultural reconnection, and personal transformation amid the effects of intergenerational trauma. Through story, participants did not simply reclaim identity; they braided new narratives of resistance, ceremony, and hope. Although all three have since completed their athletic careers, sport continues to shape their lives and communities. These stories offer critical insights for institutions seeking to support Indigenous student-athletes, not by assimilating them, but by creating space for culturally grounded, relational, and holistic engagement in sport and education.

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