Sport and Reconciliation: One Man’s Story

My name is Alvin Mills. I am from Blood Tribe. I have been asked to share my story. I am a survivor of residential schools. I spent nine years in St. Paul's Anglican School and four years at St. Mary's School on the Blood Reserve. It is important that stories of survivors are heard.

As my story unfolds it is one of contrast. My happiest memories were with my grandparents. They were old, my grandmother Chief Calf was a healer. We would spend our summers at Sun Dance. Then there was the loneliness and sadness at the residential school. The violence that was always present. The older students inflicted much of the abuse that happened.

There was my brother Jimmy and my cousin Red (Calvin) that went to St. Pauls. Being the oldest I would stand up for my brother and Red. Usually, I’d take a beating then after that we would be left alone. I learned at a young age to fight back and not say anything. You didn’t want to be known as a tattletale.

From grades 4 to 9 my brother and I boxed at St.Paul’s. Our boxing club was named St.Paul’s Poor Boys Boxing Club. Our trainer was Allan “Tiny” Smallface and Dennis Chief Moon also trained us. Dennis was a world-class boxer who represented Canada at the Commonwealth Games. Allan was an armed forces heavyweight champion.

Our boxing club included Jimmy Mills, Ivan Singer, Francis Eagle Child, Frank Wolf Plume, Andy Stump, and Bryan Stump. In my opinion, Andy Stump was the best pound-for-pound fighter of our club. We went to some big tournaments and made it to the Montana State Golden Gloves. I was on the Alberta Team when we competed at the 1975 Canada Winter Games in Lethbridge.

Having the boxing club at St. Paul’s helped with everyday life at the school. During the day we went to school in Cardston. All of us from the residential school dressed the same and we always had the same lunches. We were treated differently after a while we got used to it. They closed St. Paul’s in the summer of 1975. Then myself, Jimmy, and Red all got moved to St. Mary’s. That’s when we started playing basketball.

The harder years of residential school were at St. Paul’s. We were junior boys and were at the mercy of the older students. At St. Mary’s it was a lot better. I remember on some weekends it would be just the three of us that stayed at the school. No one picked us up as my grandparents were old and sometimes couldn’t get a ride.

Thinking back I got into fights as this was a survival skill and learned behavior that existed in the residential school system. The more I got into sports the more I didn’t have to think about being sad. When I started playing basketball, well it was one of the more pleasant experiences of my life at residential school.

We were a good team. We had Calvin Chief Calf, Jim Plume, Marvin Many Fingers, Marcel Weasel Head, and Winston Day Chief Jr. Our first coach was Moses Weasel Head; he was the one who molded our lineup. Our first year in 4a we placed third. We beat Cardston twice that year. We were the only team to beat LCI rams that year too. Our team “the Warriors” won the game with a score of 52 to 51. I got 27 points in that game.

While playing basketball at St. Mary’s residential school we were able to travel the world. We played in Japan, Scotland, and Mexico City. We were in London, Paris, Honolulu, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sapporo, and throughout Japan. As part of my healing journey, I remember the good times I had in the residential school system.

I played one year in college in Medicine Hat, then I went down that dark road of violence, drugs, alcohol, incarceration, and street life. When you’re on the streets there are no rules, anything goes. Growing up with all that unresolved trauma, grief, and abandonment, made me a bitter person. In May of 1999, I got charged with attempted murder and received a 4-year sentence.

I completed my sentence and went back to the community of Lethbridge. I was struggling with drugs and alcohol heavily at the time. I got stabbed in the throat. I just about got murdered. That’s when I decided to do something. I got into recovery, worked on my trauma and grief. I found that my true healing began when I started addressing the trauma that I experienced in the residential school.

I learned that it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to talk about what's bothering you. Once I was able to deal with these long-standing issues I felt that a weight had been lifted. I still have my struggle today but I have my faith and I have learned to accept.

Now I feel that my purpose in life is to help others that struggle with addiction. I have an organization “Kindness to Others” in Lethbridge. Our mandate has always been to support and advocate for the at risk and vulnerable members of our community. My organization is called “Kii Mah-Pii-Pii-Tsin Renewal and Healing Centre”, although not affiliated with a local film or documentary of the same name.

It has always been my goal to create an after care facility that specialized in trauma, grief, suicide intervention, and have a cultural component to the program. I have a one-year program that has trauma, grief, and suicide intervention included but no facility yet.

In conclusion, I am humbled and honored to be able to share my story. And no matter how hard things get in life, never give up, seek help, and pray to the creator of all.

This story is dedicated to all survivors.

- Alvin Mills

Shawn: Did you have friends growing up that you only knew through or because of sports?

Alvin: It was very good when you could meet some great players. I met lots of great ball players in my day. The group I played with in school are all still friends now. Raymond always clobbered us in football and we stayed friends but it helped that we always won at basketball. I always tried to do my best; having that mentality when starting my own organization has helped me. I’m always trying to engage the community and our community leaders were usually all athletes at one time too. It makes it easier to reach out to them when we have that in common. We speak the same language. With my organization I try to look at everyone as a team and this has helped us be successful. From grade 4 - 9, I had 48 fights in boxing. Boxing was an individual sport that was more of a mental game that took more mental preparation than other sports. I also try to apply this to my bouts in business, come prepared mentally.

Shawn: If you could tell people (Indigenous or other) something with regards to the relationship between sport and reconciliation, what would it be?

Alvin: Yes definitely, reconciliation means the restoration of friendly relations. Sport is a way to bring communities together. It is a dream of mine to start a boxing club one day. The kids don’t know where people are from and they don’t usually care. They still have their innocence about them in that they accept where people are or where they’re from. Engaging with them helps. It is a passion of mine to help people. We all struggle. With sports, communities come together. It’s the healthy competition that sets aside our differences for one common purpose, to compete.

Shawn: What do you think people can do to help? Would anything help? What can I do to help?

Alvin: Say hello to somebody -- especially the people who struggle. Offer them a sandwich and just, you know, engage with them. Be patient. Show compassion. It helps.

One thing my grandfather told me that always stuck with me was “never give up no matter how hard things get”. Through my boxing and basketball career, I never gave up. Now in life, I do the same, never give up on anyone. Everyone deserves a chance.