How the Lil Bands hockey tournament brings First Nations communities together at the rink

Hundreds of players and families from remote First Nations in northwestern Ontario —  and one from Manitoba — have come to Dryden for the Lil Bands hockey tournament.

For players, it's like their Stanley Cup, nearly 40 teams from 12 communities are there this week in seven age divisions, from novice up to senior boys and girls teams. For some it's the first time they get to play against neighbouring communities, or even on artificial ice.

CBC Thunder Bay is at the tournament this week, checking out the sights and sounds, and is hosting a special broadcast of Superior Morning with host Mary-Jean Cormier from the rink.

If you missed it live, you can get caught up here. Scroll through to learn more about the segments, and click on the player to listen: 

Hit the ice with the players 

The young players are at the heart of everything that goes on at Lil Bands. Get started by hearing from them about why this matters so much to them.

A family affair 

Hockey's great appeal is that it involves many different generations, from the young players on the ice, to the coaches, to the grandparents cheering in the stands.

Sharon Quequish  has been helping out with hockey in her community since her son was young. Now she's here with her granddaughter, Kaiya Waswa. They're both from North Caribou Lake, also known as Round Lake or Weagamow.

They talked about how the sport has been a part of their lives and why it's special to them.

It takes a community 

Just getting to the tournament is a big task, and once they arrive, there's a lot of wrangling from coaches, parents and chaperones making sure everything goes smoothly. Some travel hundreds of kilometres in frigid temperatures.

Deer Lake First Nation has a team in all seven divisions and have pulled together to make it happen.

Denise Aysanabee is the team manager for the junior and senior girls hockey teams from Deer Lake. We met with her to find out how they've made it all happen.

Back to the beginning 

This year marks the 20th anniversary for the Lil Bands youth hockey tournament. And every year, a small army of dedicated people puts hours and hours of work into making it happen.

None of it would be possible without a core group of organizers — including the people who've been with it from the beginning.

Stephen Fiddler and Ziggy Beardy organized the first tournament in 2001 and are still a big reason why it keeps going. They both spent time to tell us about how its all come together.

A long tradition of First Nations tournaments 

Lil Bands is part of a long tradition of First Nations hockey tournaments that bring people together from across northwestern Ontario.

Charlotte Marten, a former host of CBC Oji-Cree radio program Anishinaabe Wing-wan and archivist at CBC Thunder Bay dusted off some tape from a tournament in 1988. She'll tell us about how Oji-Cree broadcasters called those games — and why there still isn't a word for 'puck' in Oji-Cree.

A facelift for the Dryden Arena 

Like so much else, Lil Bands is back after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions. It's back in a big way, but the arena where it's all happening is also worth talking about.

Stephen Belanger is Dryden's manager of community services and tells us about the big changes happening at the rink.