Saturday, February 9, 2013

Black Ice - The Colored Hockey League, Nova Scotia

                       THE CHL



See Black Ice:
The Lost History of the Coloured Hockey League (CHL)


THE LOST HISTORY OF THE COLORED HOCKEY LEAGUE OF
THE MARITIMES 1895-1925
Halifax Eurekas 1906 of the CHL – Coloured Hockey League
With certainty, we can only date Black hockey to the early 1870’s, yet we know that hockey and Black history in Nova Scotia have parallel roots, going back almost 100 years . Among the first reports of hockey being played occur in 1815 along the isolated Northwest Arm, south of Halifax. The date is important for the simple fact that as late as October 1815 the region was not home to a large White settlement but was instead the site of a small Black enclave. Four Black families originally from the Chesapeake Bay area, with a total of fifteen children, had relocated and settled on the Arm. It is reported that these families, Couney, Williams, Munro and Leale, received adequate food, lodging and employment implying that their children were healthy and would have been able to play hockey during the winter months when the Arm was frozen and suitable for skating. Were these children among the first Canadians to play the game of hockey? We do not know. All we can say is that the coincidence between the date of the Northwest Arm’s Black settlement and the first records of hockey being played in the area are worthy of reflection.  (See more)                                                        by George and Darril Fosty                                          

                                                                           Black Nova Scotia Hockey Circa 1910

                               

                                       See also the article     The CHL is Black History



No comments: