Organizers within indigenous communities see sport as a form of empowerment. The 2017 National Aboriginal Midget Hockey Championships, taking place at the Island Savings Centre and Cowichan Lake Recreation Centre, are part of a burgeoning indigenous sports movement that culminates every three years with the North American Indigenous Games, the 2017 version which runs July 16-23 across the Greater Toronto Area.

But this week on the Island is all about a winter sport well known by all Canadians. The eight male and eight female all-star hockey teams gathered in the Cowichan Valley represent B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Eastern Door and the North and the Atlantic provinces.

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The calibre is high with most of the players playing Major Midget or Junior B with their club teams back home. There are plenty of role models to follow, including Carey Price, Rene Bourque, T.J. Oshie, Kyle Chipchura, Vern Fiddler, Jordin Tootoo, Jordan Nolan, Michael Ferland, Dwight King, Bryan Trottier, Chris Simon and Reggie Leach.

“Sport is extremely important and is preventive medicine for our people,” said Lara Mussell-Savage, general manager of both the B.C. male and female teams.

“You see young people striving for excellence on the ice and on fields and in gyms, and that translates into their lives.”

She said it also opens eyes among the players to see the diversity within the indigenous communities across the country and to realize it isn’t one monolithic thing.

“Players will see teammates and opponents who are Inuit and Métis and First Nations, who come from on and off reserve,” added Mussell-Savage, a member of the Skwah First Nation, and two-time gold-medallist and two-time bronze medallist for Canada at the Ultimate world championships.

“What bonds all the players here is their indigenous ancestry. [Such tournaments] are building cultural pride,” added Mussell-Savage, enshrined by her hometown into the Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame.

The 2016 National Aboriginal Midget Hockey tournament was held in Mississauga, Ont., with B.C. going undefeated in winning the male championship. The B.C. women were fourth in 2016 after losing the bronze-medal game in overtime to Manitoba while Saskatchewan edged Ontario 1-0 in the gold-medal final.

Both the B.C. teams advanced out of the round robin to the 2017 quarter-finals late Thursday night in Duncan with the men playing Alberta and the women playing Eastern Door and the North.

The undefeated B.C. men — led by Daine DuBois, Jake Gudjonson, Corey Cunningham and the goaltending of Chad Cromar and Caleb Virgo — defeated Eastern Door and the North 7-4, Ontario 4-2 and Atlantic 9-0 in the round-robin.

The B.C. women, also undefeated in round-robin, beat Saskatchewan 5-0 and the North 8-0 on shutouts by Jaydlin Spooner and Tamara William and Alberta 4-2 on two goals by Maryna Macdonald.

The 2017 tournament continues today with the semifinals and through to the medal rounds on Saturday at the Island Savings Centre.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com