A hockey origins tale
April 25th, 2025
In a retelling of the origins of hockey through an Indigenous lens, the late Musqueam elder and storyteller, Henry Charles (1955 – 2017) wrote The Game (Greystone $23.95), which he planned to get into print but never had the opportunity. Now a group of Charles’ family and friends have come together and had the manuscript published.
The story came to Charles when he was watching the Vancouver Canucks play in a historic Stanley Cup final in 2011. Afterwards Charles drafted a scenario about an argument between a brown bear and a killer whale in the place known as Sen̓áḵw. Each animal thought that they could beat the other at any challenge.
A Musqueam man, the powerful Mena, heard them and came up with the idea to create a special game to settle the argument. Mena envisaged a competition on ice played with sticks, nets made from Musqueam fishing nets, and a star for a puck.
“Mena reached into the heavens and pulled a small star down from the sky,” wrote Charles. “‘When this star is hit into your goal, it will flash,’ said Mena.”
In Charles’ tale, hundreds of Musqueam villagers as well as people from Tsleil-Waututh, who arrived by canoe, came to watch. The game finally ends in the evening, after which the killer whale and the brown bear graciously thank each other for the game and go their separate ways.
Illustrations for the story are by the Haida artist, Shoshannah Greene, a two-time Emerging Artist Scholarship recipient.
The foreword was written by Peter Leech, a long-time friend of Henry Charles, and a former professional hockey player and member of the St’át’imc Nation. “The Game is a true reflection of Henry, who was a fierce competitor when he played sports,” says Leech. “Off the field he was gentle and firm with his teachings so that children could have a better and clearer understanding of the world we live in. He believed in Peace and Harmony for all Human Beings.” 9781778401756
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