Aboriginal Sport Circle – The Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC) is pleased to be launching the development of a National Aboriginal Research Agenda intended to inform and help both the ASC and Aboriginal sport organizations respond to the increased demand for Aboriginal related research.  The release of the findings from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which completed its seven-year investigation into the Indian residential school system in Canada in 2015, triggered a surge of interest in Aboriginal policy analysis, program development, and research activity. Nearly every public sector that had some responsibility for Aboriginal livelihood and health responded to the TRC and its recommendations, the 94 Calls to Action. Aboriginal organizations are beginning to understand the scope of the challenges created by implementing the Calls to Action, inasmuch as the intensification of interest in the lives of Aboriginal people requires concerted organizational, policy, and planning responses.

As the organizational body responsible for Aboriginal sport and physical activity development in Canada, the Aboriginal Sport Circle will embark on creating a National Aboriginal Research Agenda that will help to educate and guide its decisions, policy, planning, and program delivery. A strong network of Provincial-Territorial Aboriginal Sport Bodies (PTASBs) and partnerships with non-profit organizations and government departments enables the ASC to play a strategic and influential role in the provision of insights into the needs of Aboriginal communities. In its current Business Plan, the ASC outlined its Three-Year strategy (2017-2020), which identifies research as a key priority to help it achieve its objectives.  

The ASC has created an advisory group, led by Dr. Janice Forsyth, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Director of First Nations Studies at Western University, London, Ontario. The group is comprised of leading researchers in Aboriginal sport who will work with the ASC, Sport Canada, and the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) to develop and implement the National Aboriginal Research Agenda.

“This is an important opportunity to advance Aboriginal interests in sport, physical activity, and physical education for the health and well-being of Aboriginal people and Aboriginal communities throughout Canada. It’s also a critically important time for sector collaboration, and we’re pleased our partners in sport have responded to this initiative and need,” commented Heather Kaulbach, Executive Director, Aboriginal Sport Circle.

The need to develop a National Research Agenda is pressing given the upsurge in the number of requests and expressions of interest from academics and sectors wanting to conduct research in Aboriginal sport, physical activity, and physical education. The significance of the proposed project lies in formulating an Aboriginal-led response to TRC initiatives that created the impetus for this surge. The National Aboriginal Research Agenda, lead by the ASC and PTASBs, will help to align the diverse and burgeoning interests within these sectors and ensure that the challenges and issues that affect Aboriginal people, their communities (rural and urban), and cultures occupy a core position within the TRC-inspired space. The Agenda will also offer clear guidance and focus for scholars who are looking to contribute to a renewed relationship with Aboriginal people through research in these sectors.

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For additional information on the Aboriginal Sport Circle, the national voice in sport, fitness, culture and recreation pursuits for the Aboriginal peoples in Canada please refer to www.aboriginalsportcircle.ca.

Media Contact
Heather Kaulbach 
Executive Director

Aboriginal Sport Circle 

1-613-859-0179 (cell)

www.aboriginalsportcircle.ca

“Aboriginal Sport Circle” c/o House of Sport, RA Centre
2451 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1H 7X7