After losing a friend, young Innu hockey players get a boost
CBC
Warning: this story contains details that may be distressing for some
Growing up in Uashat Mak Mani Utenam, an Innu community based in Sept-Îles, Que., Normand Thirnish-Pilot says he remembers feeling isolated and struggling with his self-worth.
Last year, he heard his neighbours down the coast in Pakua Shipu, another Innu community on Quebec's Lower North Shore, were reeling after a young girl who lived there took her own life. He decided he wanted to help.
"I was really in pain for them ... especially for the youth," he said.
"On reservations in Canada, at least here where I'm from, we have a lot of suicides. I first heard about suicide when I was seven years old."
Thirnish-Pilot, who's now an RCMP officer stationed in Sept-Îles, says that's how old he was when his uncle took his own life and his aunt explained to him what that meant.
He says his uncle was one of many people he saw "disappear" from his home community as he grew older and he continued to see Innu people deeply hurt by similar losses later on in life.
"I was a police officer here on the reservation before the RCMP, I had to deal a lot with suicide, I know how it affects families, how it affects the whole community," he said.
"When I heard about the passing of that young girl last year, I had to do something."
"Since I know that hockey is really important on reservations, I decided that we should ask for the help of the NHLPA."
Thirnish-Pilot formed a sports committee called Innu Auasset with three other community members, one from Uashat and two from Pakua Shipu.
Through the committee, he reached out to the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), shared what the Innu youth were going through and applied for funding from a program called the Goals & Dreams Fund, a charitable initiative that helps grows hockey programs for disadvantaged youth around the world.
"They agreed to help us with our initiative by giving us 25 sets of hockey equipment for players and two sets of hockey equipment for goalies," he said.
In late November, a shipment of brand new gear arrived in Pakua Shipu. Regional transportation company Relais Nordik agreed to ship it all for free and Thirnish-Pilot says other sports stores and a local printing company also chipped in, adding a couple pairs of goalie skates and hockey pucks, designing a logo and donating stickers.
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