Origin of Mi'kmaw, Canada's national sport
Prior to 1875 (the year the International Ice Hockey Federation declared Montreal the first organized game of ice hockey), similar games were already being played in Mi'kmaw communities in Nova Scotia. Even before carbon dating revealed that a precursor to the hockey stick, thought to have been made from dark yellow birch by a Mi'kmaq carver, dated back to his 17th century, Mi'kmaq oral history He told us the same thing. This allows you to see not only the origins of the game, but also its evolution.
Before hockey stick manufacturing became industrialized in the 1930s, the Mi'kmaq people of Nova Scotia carved their own sticks and sold them internationally. Mi'kmaq carvers often used the hornbeam tree, which is native to Nova Scotia and known for its durability and fragrance. Similarly, sculptors sometimes used yellow birch, another durable hardwood.
Orchamkunuku and Harley on the ice
Archamadik is a Mi'kmaw term used to describe an early version of the modern game of ice hockey. The origins of this game can be traced back to a similar game in the Mi'kmaq language called Orchamkunutuk. Mi'kmaq is the term for field games and games on ice. Archamadyk seems to have been born from a combination of Orchamkunutsk and a game called “Hurley on Ice'' (a European adaptation of the Irish field game), resulting in the sport as we know it today. began to take shape.
Initially, players used hard wooden balls to hurley on the ice, but it was eventually changed to barrel plugs, or “cork bangs,” probably due to the high number of shin injuries. The cork resembles the puck in use today, and hockey historians believe the game's modern name is hock ale (brewed in corked barrels), which was created for the medieval English festival Hock Tide. This suggests that it originates from beer that is stored and stored.
Modern Harley sticks are carved from ash wood and shaped to balance the ball on the blade as the player runs with it. However, before this change was made in 1920, the Harley stick resembled the modern hockey stick.
Dwarken
Along with alchamadik, hurley on the ice, and orchamknutsk, there was dwarken, a traditional Mi'kmaw game of playing ball on ice. In the game, a striker hits a round stone on the ice with a stick. In 1913, Jerry Roancloud, a Mi'kmaw from Nova Scotia, stated that the stick was likely a spruce root, known to players as a dwarknaut. The stone was then retrieved by the player, and an opposing player attempted to take it from the stone carrier before returning it to the striker.
The hockey stick as we know it today may have been inspired by the combination of the sticks used in hurling, made possible by the spruce roots used in Dwarken and the skill of Mi'kmaw woodcarvers. I don't know.
rickett
European records from the late 1600s indicate that Mi'kmaw players also played an early version of ice hockey known as “ricketing.” These news articles and observations detail that the game featured two “kururi” consisting of two stones placed approximately three feet apart that served as goal posts.
The goal of the game was for a player to pass a guarded opponent's ricket with a cherrywood puck and score a point. Once a teammate is selected by the captain, they take their stick and throw the ball into the air and the game begins. The similarities between Ricketts and ice hockey are obvious.
Ice hockey's roots date back to various games played by the Mi'kmaq people of Nova Scotia. European stick and ball games such as Harley may also have influenced the games we play today. Ice hockey was born by embracing the cultural contact of both the European game and the Mi'kmaw game.
