SPORTS

In 1947, Alex Strain volunteered to run St. Paul’s Residential School in North Vancouver recreation program. After turning a storage building into a gymnasium, Strain started a tumbling and boxing team at the institution. With the rising popularity of amateur boxing, Alex in partnership with Andy Paull, founded the Buckskin Gloves an all-Indigenous boxing event in 1949. The event was successful and became an annual event for the boxers to celebrate their achievements, culture, and athletic ability. Students coached by Alex under the St. Paul’s Athletic Club, later renamed Totem Athletic Club, dominated the competition at the Buckskin Gloves. The first Tom Longboat Award winner, Frederick Baker, was coached by Alex and won the Buckskin Gloves in 1952. In the tournament format developed by Alex, Buckskin Gloves was a staple for the Indigenous boxing community in the Lower Mainland until the late 1960s. For athlete William Nahanee, who attended St. Paul’s Residential School and boxed for Totem Athletic Club, Alex was more than a coach, “I had no father, except maybe Alex Strain. He was my father, my role model.”

From the Xaxli’p First Nation near Lillooet, Roger Adolph was first introduced to boxing while at the Williams Lake Residential School and Kamloops Indian Residential School. After surviving Residential School, Roger kept boxing and found success in the Pacific Northwest, competing in the Buckskin Gloves, and moving to Prince George to train with Harold Mann, who won 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. While training with Mann, Roger won the 1963 Canadian bantamweight title. Despite this accomplishment, he was left off the Canadian national team for the 1963 Pan American Games in Brazil. After winning the Golden Gloves in 1964, 1965, and 1966 in Tacoma, Portland, and Seattle Roger moved to England, fighting professionally for over two years.

After returning home from England, Roger retired and turned to serving his community. As Chief for Xaxli’p from 1982-2006, Roger served as Chief Negotiator for the Nation. In support of the Oka Crisis in 1990, Roger and Chief Butch Bob (Ts’kw’aylaxw First Nation) erected a blockade on Highway 1 to advocate for land rights and self-determination of Indigenous peoples across Canada. Believing in sport to create future leaders, Roger led the BC Native Sports and Recreation Federation and the Just Do It Sports Society to increase positive sport opportunities for Indigenous youth in British Columbia and across Canada.