Legacy Game

For the fifth year in a row, please join Redbirds lacrosse as they compete against Bishop's University in The Legacy Game! The Legacy Game is a lacrosse game dedicated to Orange Shirt Day to honour Truth and Reconciliation. Elder Mike Mitchell, lacrosse legend and advocate will be opening up the game. Also, join Barbara Diabo for a special half-time preformance! This years match up is again Bishop’s University, a game you won’t want to miss!

Legacy Game: The Game of Truth and Reconciliation  

The match-up for this year’s Legacy Game is against Bishop’s University. As the Legacy Game is part of Indigenous Awareness Weeks, it is important to recognize the role that sports and sports history play in understanding the game of lacrosse and its Indigenous roots. 

When honouring Truth and Reconciliation, the Legacy Game provides an opportunity to build on reconciliation by acknowledging where the game comes from and the Indigenous peoples who created and continue to carry its traditions. The “truth” portion of Truth and Reconciliation is equally important. In this particular match-up, there is a unique historical connection between lacrosse, McGill University, Bishop’s University, and William George Beers, who is often referred to as the “father of modern lacrosse.” 

The Creator's Game 

Long before lacrosse became an organized Canadian sport, forms of the game had been played by Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island for centuries. For many First Nations, particularly Haudenosaunee communities, the game was and remains much more than a sport. It carries spiritual, ceremonial, social, and cultural significance and is referred to as the Creator’s Game. 

Settler Imposition 

William George Beers, a Montreal dentist and lacrosse player, became closely involved with the game during the nineteenth century after watching and playing alongside Indigenous players from communities including Kahnawà:ke and Akwesasne. Rather than creating lacrosse, Beers helped transform an existing Indigenous game into the standardized settler sport that became known as modern lacrosse. Beginning in 1860 and continuing through the 1860s, he established written rules which were adopted when the National Lacrosse Association was formed in 1867, and in 1869 he published Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada. 

That process of codification, however, was also part of a larger colonial history. As settlers increasingly claimed lacrosse as a symbol of a new Canadian national identity, Indigenous peoples were increasingly pushed to the margins of the organized version of their own game. In effect, the people whose cultures created the game helped introduce it to settlers, while the new institutions governing the sport increasingly restricted their participation. 

Significance of McGill-Bishops Legacy Game Match-Up  

This history becomes particularly significant for a Legacy Game between McGill and Bishop’s because Beers’ influence extended beyond lacrosse and into the history of dentistry in Quebec. Beers was one of the leading figures in the professionalization of dentistry and, in 1892, became the founding dean of the Dental College of the Province of Quebec. The Dental College became affiliated with Bishop’s University in the 1890s, and that connection eventually extended directly to McGill. In 1904, McGill’s Faculty of Medicine absorbed Bishop’s Department of Dentistry and used it to establish its own Department of Dentistry, an institution that ultimately developed into what is now McGill’s Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences.  

Beers therefore occupies an unusual place in the histories of both universities: his work helped shape the development of organized dentistry that connected Bishop’s and McGill, while his work in lacrosse helped reshape an Indigenous game into a Canadian institution that, for a significant period, excluded Indigenous peoples from full participation. 

Continual Work Forward 

Recognizing this history gives the McGill-Bishop’s Legacy Game a deeper meaning. The purpose is not simply to acknowledge that lacrosse has Indigenous origins, but to recognize the full history of how the game was shared, transformed, claimed, and governed. The Legacy Game provides an opportunity to honour the Creator’s Game while ensuring that the Indigenous peoples, histories, and traditions at its foundation remain central to the story we tell about lacrosse today. 

Elder Mike Mitchell  

Elder Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell of Akwesasne is a Mohawk leader, Faithkeeper, and one of the most influential Indigenous builders in modern lacrosse. Coming from a lacrosse and traditional stick-making family, Mitchell has dedicated much of his life to preserving lacrosse as the Creator’s Game and ensuring its Haudenosaunee cultural and spiritual foundations remain central to how the game is understood. He helped revive minor lacrosse in Akwesasne, played a major role in developing the Iroquois Lacrosse Association, and has advocated for greater Indigenous representation within organized lacrosse. In recognition of his contributions, he was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2003. 

Barbara Diabo 

Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo is a member of the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) Nation of Kahnawake. She now resides in Montreal, where she is the artistic director and choreographer of A’nó:wara Dance Theatre. An award-winning choreographer, she has been dancing for over 30 years, creating shows that highlight Indigenous themes, stories, and perspectives. Diabo is proud to share her culture and performs across Canada and internationally. Barbara also collaborates with several organizations, helping to raise awareness, create safe spaces, and support Indigenous artists worldwide. She creates and performs for future generations, to honor her ancestors, to strengthen community ties, for those who cannot dance, to inspire cultural pride, and to uplift spirits.

Donate to Resilience Montreal

The Lacrosse team is also collecting donations for Resilence Montreal. Below are some donation suggestions 

Non-Perishable items

Canned foods

• dried fruit
• beans
• corn
• chickpeas
• tuna
• canned soup

Other Ideas

• rice
• pasta
• oats
• granola bars
• flour
• cereal
• juice boxes
• pre-packaged cookies

Clothing 

• Hoodies M-l-xl-xxl
• long johns
• new socks
• new underwear
• ball caps/tuques
• hand warmers
• mittens
• shoe laces
• insoles (dr sholls)
• scarves