Warriors exhibit at NU

The Warriors are on display at Nipissing University.  The university is pleased to present the Warriors Exhibit, detailing the history of the highly successful Nipissing Warriors hockey team. 
The exhibit grew out of a research partnership between Nipissing First Nation and Dr. Katrina Srigley, associate professor of History at Nipissing.  Srigley worked with Glenna Beaucage, cultural planning coordinator for Nipissing First Nation, with funding provided by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, to tell the tale of the Warriors.

The Warriors played from 1965 – 1975, and enjoyed success on and off the ice.  On the ice, the team brought together young Anishinaabe players from around the region.  They won the 1972 Inter-Reserve Championship as well as the Industrial League Championship in Sturgeon Falls.  Off the ice, the Warriors helped unite their community as fans consistently packed local rinks to cheer them on.  The team grew and eventually splintered into multiple teams, partially a victim of its own success as more and more people wanted to play.  The legacy is carried today in the many children who play hockey in the Little NHL.

“Our goal is to share the history of Nipissing First Nation from the perspective and through the stories of community members,” said Srigley. “Elders in the community wondered why young people were unfamiliar with the history of the hockey team.  They wanted to share this success story, how the community rallied around the team and how vitally important it was to build a sense of community at that time.”

Srigley and Beaucage interviewed former Warriors players and fans, and collected new articles and photos to build the exhibit.

The Warriors Exhibit can be experienced in the Treaty Learning Room in the Harris Learning Library, on Thursdays from noon – 3 p.m. until June 19.