Harvard women’s hockey coach under fire after reporting racist comments to Indigenous Canadians
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is calling on Katey Stone, the Harvard Crimson women’s ice hockey coach, to resign.
Stone allegedly made racist comments towards players, including two BC Indigenous players
According to the Boston Globe, Stone accused the players of disrespect and that the roster was a group of skaters “with too many heads and not enough Indians” after stopping practice in the 2021-22 season.
“I’m just disgusted by the statements made. It is completely disrespectful to our people and of course our youth,” Heather Bear, deputy director of the FSIN, told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.
“In our eyes, she has no place in hockey.”
Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Canadian Press.
FSIN, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan, sent a letter to Harvard’s athletic department demanding Stone’s firing.
“I don’t even care about discipline right now. She should just be left,” said Bear, who is from the Ochapowace Nation.
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The Boston Globe reported that Indigenous players Maryna Macdonald of Ditidaht First Nation, BC, and Taze Thompson, a member of Metis Nation Alberta and Okanagan Indian Band, BC, have left the team.
The daughter of Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson, Thompson played two years at Harvard before joining Northeastern this season.
The 20-year-old forward was the 2020-21 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Macdonald, a four-season defenseman with the Crimson, told the Boston Globe that Stone looked her in the eye when she made the comment.
14 players have left the program since 2016
“I had to learn to navigate a lot of their toxic environment,” Macdonald said. “But now you respect me and my family and my legacy above others.”
Macdonald and Thompson were among 14 recruited players who left Stone’s program since 2016, including three this season, The Globe reported in its story.
The paper also said former Crimson captain Sydney Daniels of the Nehiyawak First Nation of Mistawasi, Sask., is suing Harvard over alleged racial discrimination related to Stone and the athletic department.
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Daniels, who is now an NHL scout with the Winnipeg Jets, was a team captain in 2016-17 and an assistant coach to Stone for four years from 2018-2022.
Stone has coached Harvard to a dozen NCAA tournament appearances in the event’s 20-year history.
She was the head coach of the United States women’s team that lost 3-2 in overtime to Canada in the 2014 Olympic Ice Hockey final in Sochi, Russia.
The Boston Globe wrote that Harvard conducted an internal review after Stone’s comment and that the athletic director informed the players that Stone would remain the Crimson’s head coach.
“I would urge the Harvard Board of Governors to take serious steps to correct this,” Bear said.
Source: www.cbc.ca
