Medicine Game: Inside the new CFL Original production

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — In a documentary full of powerful moments, one in particular stands out in the CFL Original, Medicine Game.

Levi Horn talks to his players, members of the Indigenous under-18 women’s team, as they’re about to play in the women’s national championship in Fredericton, N.B. this past summer.

“Get your mind right,” he urges the team. “This is an important day. You’re repping us. You’re repping that name on your chest for Canada. If football was easy, everybody would do it. We have 20-some-odd ladies that are representing all of Indigenous Canada. It’s important. ”

As he addresses them, he takes them through smudging, a sacred First Nations ceremony that purifies the mind, body, heart and spirit of anyone who enters the ceremonial area.

“This is our medicine. Sport is our medicine,” he continues. “This is an honour to be out here playing and representing. Think about the people who did it before us. People have had to give their lives so that we could come out here and play this medicine game. Lots of people. Lots of women out there, still missing.

“Remember, when it gets tough, think about those women that we don’t have right now, OK? Think about those women.You’re playing for them, you’re representing them. All you young ladies…your sacrifice for our people and what we’re doing here trying to change the game so other little Native girls know they can come here and ball out.”

The under-18 Indigenous women’s team went 2-1 in the national championship tournament this summer (CFL.ca)

Cinematographer Colin Wouda directed the piece. He spent roughly a week with the team, visiting athletes and coaches in Fort MacKay First Nation and following them through training camp in Winnipeg and on to Fredericton.

The result is an up-close and personal look at a team that’s a first-of-its-kind: an all-Indigenous women’s tackle football team, consisting of players from across Canada. The team began competing in 2023.

“It feels very homey, I would not feel like that with any other team,” said Gabrielle Gladue, of Fort MacKay, Alta. “I feel like mainly because we all come from different places, but deep down we all know what we go through in those reserves and all of that stuff. It makes you feel more together. We all lift each other up.”

“They understand where everyone is coming from,” head coach Samantha Big Swallow said. “They all know what it’s like to be an Indigenous female. Some coming from good homes, some coming from not-so-great homes.They’re all there for the same reason and everyone is there to support each other. It builds that sense of pride.”

The challenges that First Nations communities across the country face are not a secret. A lack of safe drinking water has profound impacts on these communities –as they would on any community — and remains something that is unresolved.

“We have kids who live in the cities, who live on the reserve, who are in foster care,” Big Swallow said. “I really feel like it’s more so a parent (saying), ‘I want my child to experience normalcy.’ For a lot of families it’s normal to eat three meals a day, it’s normal to go get a cup of water from the tap. A lot of the communities you have to ration your water. Just having the opportunity to live normal for a little bit.”

Amidst the challenges mentioned, with the heartbreaking information that we have on Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and the lasting effects of residential schools, we see the power that sport, football in particular can have as a unifying entity, as a community building tool. It’s evident in Horn’s speech and in how these girls from across Canada bond together to play in this national tournament.

Game day, Big Swallow said, was a special moment for the team.

Being a part of the Indigenous team meant something to everyone involved, players and coaches included (CFL.ca)

“I think a lot of it has to come with putting on that jersey and realizing this is who I’m representing. Representing Indigenous youth and Indigenous females in my community and in Canada as a whole. When that representation comes into mind it’s like ‘OK, I’ve got to show up.'”

The team won its first-ever game this summer, beating team Ontario Black 32-21. As the program continues to grow, the coaches and players know that they can create a wave of influence and change, opening doors to Indigenous players who may not have considered football as an option. The team finished with a 2-1 record at the tournament.

“It feels so awesome. We’re all representing our reserves and our ancestors and everyone back home. It feels so awesome, it feels like a one-in-a-lifetime experience,” Gladue said.

“There’s no ceiling above us that we can’t break through,” Big Swallow said. “We are Aboriginal people, we come from the stars so we can reach out to the universe and really work together and make the highest possible outcome of being a champion. I do believe these girls have that in them. Us as coaches have the understanding to get them that far. I know there are a lot more girls that want to be a part of that. We can get there, we just need you girls to come out and help us get there.”

The words that the team said as they broke their huddle resonate beyond the game.

“Who are we?”

“Strong!”

“Who are we?”

“Capable!”

“Where do we belong?”

“Right here, right now.”

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