Nature Games: Traditional Indigenous Games and Environmental Stewardship in Oceania

Introduction and Context

My project was about understanding the development of environmental stewardship through gameplay in Indigenous societies. The South Pacific has many similarities to Canada in terms of Indigenous-settler relations, colonial histories and a resurgence in reconciliation efforts, and an onus on climate action via grassroots engagement. Indigenous traditional games – played in nature, with natural implements, and spiritually connected to nature – are ideal spaces through which to understand how young people learn about their natural environments through play. Practical implications of this study are for outdoor recreation groups that can draw on Indigenous Canadian games for the development of environmental stewardship and environmental health. Whether it is policymakers developing green active policies, recreation management personnel building bridges with Indigenous communities, or parents seeking outlets that our more nature-friendly or nature-oriented, this study shows how traditional games can help facilitate reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, our environments, and our physical activity profiles. 

Methods

I conducted interviews with Indigenous games experts (notably Harko Brown of New Zealand), regularly (on six occasions) visited a comprehensive traditional games archive in Brisbane, Australia (the personal archives of Ken Edwards), and observed Indigenous games in Queensland, New Zealand, and Fiji. Additionally, conducted an extensive secondary literature review of environmentalism via physical activity participation.  I brought together all of my data and research notes to draw on themes and situate Indigenous traditional games within the growing area of sport ecology.  Then, I performed a grounded theory analysis to frame my findings within environmental ethics and sustainability psychology. 

Key Findings and Implications

1. Traditional games are nature games. One of the aims of the study was to provide a renewed outlook on games, namely rethink what they are. In the nature games vein, we suggest a definition to the idea of games (as opposed to sports), situate games as nature games specifically (played in, with, and through nature), and apply this logic to traditional games the world over. Through this conceptualization process, it became quickly evident that playing in nature was connected to learning from nature.  This, in and of itself, is not novel, but positioning games (as opposed to sports) – in particular traditional, Indigenous, or outdoor games – as the medium through which to develop an intimate relationship with nature is not often considered. This idea has particular ramifications for outdoor recreation stakeholders jostling for space in the leisure space with widespread sport organizations in Canada. Employing a games logic in articulating the benefits of outdoor recreation – to health, to reconciliation, to environmental impact – could be a valuable asset in forming policy, programming, and practice. 
2. Stewardship requires a third element: culture. Both play and nature are key pieces in the development of environmental stewardship, but without an element of local culture there is little sticking point in the environmental education of youth. Take, for example, Māori playgrounds (mara hupara). They are playgrounds made of natural materials (logs, vines, tree trunks, large stones, etc.), but they are also cultural spaces where Māori youth learn how to move in nature, respect nature, and understand the spiritual connection of Māori to nature. Of course, this is relative to a given culture and worldview and we are not suggesting supplanting Māori worldviews on the Canadian context. The hoped for implications of this finding is that it is not enough simply to design outdoor game play in the environmental education of Canadian youth. The key to longstanding stewardship is connection to local culture, be it Indigenous, settler, or immigrant worldviews on nature. For those looking at opportunities for culturally-sensitive recreational programming, this study offers a number of possibilities. 
3. Traditional games are crucial in sport ecology. The quest for (environmental) sustainability in sport has been appropriated by sport management stakeholders, with the intention of benefiting the sporting establishment. Although there are strategies to reduce carbon emissions – the single largest factors in hastening climate change –  in the sport sector, the vast majority of “sustainability” initiatives are superficial (e.g., no paper), in adherence of industry standard protocols (e.g., LEED certification), or a marketing ploy (i.e., greenwashing). The field of sport ecology, a subsection of sport management studies, tends to dance around these issues without getting to the core of how the sports sector can amplify climate activism. Our argument is that sport may be a part of the problem, whereas nature games offer not only a more “sustainable” recreational outlet, but also offers an opportunity to imprint crucial environmental ethics in youth from the start. Modern institutional sports were originally developed as a means of social education, perhaps it’s time to look at games in the same way. 

Strengths and Limitations

Both the strengths and limitations of this project are related to the “outsider” perspective of the study.  It is based on research in Oceania, which provides different contextual issues related to Indigeneity, environmentalism, and recreation, but a fresh perspective is sometimes needed when coping with broad societal turns. Therefore, although the topic of study focuses on a far off part of the world, there is much we can learn from the issues and how diverse groups manage them. 

Conclusions and Next Steps

The relevance of traditional Indigenous games, in this context, is their entwinement with natural environments. As Douglas Booth argues, practicing sports and games “in nature engenders very real relational sensibilities with the nonhuman material world.”  The relational link between traditional Indigenous games, understood in their broadest sense, and natural environments offers significant untapped opportunities to develop environmental stewardship globally – significant because of the existence of these games across the globe, increasing interest in their revival, preservation, and dissemination, and in the growing recognition and honouring of Indigenous cultures. The next steps in this project are to apply theory to practice by developing an outdoor recreation program that engenders the principles of local cultural knowledge (be it Indigenous or otherwise), environmental stewardship, and a games logic. This is an international project that will include stakeholders from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, Norway, the UK, and Ireland. A nature games ideology is a global imperative involving outdoor recreation stakeholders in the pursuit of climate action.