The Moricetown Canyon Creek Bears

By Thom Barker (previously published in the Interior News)

Few things unite Canadians of all ages, races or creeds than the great game of hockey. Case in point: the Moricetown Canyon Bears.
This all-Native team went to Belgium in 1979 and Finland in 1981 to play a series of European teams.
Team member Adam Gagnon remembered the quality of European hockey leaving something to be desired.
“We were there to play a bunch of their Junior A teams. We were barely Junior B, but in those days I guess the quality of hockey over there wasn’t as good [as it is now],” he said.
“We kind of outclassed them so we ended up playing [the Belgium] national team. They whopped us something like 13 to nothing.”
But winning wasn’t nearly the most important thing.
“No one from the village had ever been to Europe,” Gagnon said.
“It was more for experience and First Nations exposure than anything.”
First Nations awareness was sorely lacking when the Moricetown team arrived in Europe.
Canyon Bears member Delvin Joseph remembered the first time they saw the poster European organizers were using to promote them. It depicted buckskin-clad Natives wielding knives and bows and arrows.
“We were shocked when we saw that,” said Joseph.
“They had never seen any Natives before that, except on T.V.”
But the shock was lessened, Joseph said by the warm welcome they received.
“We were treated liked Gretzkies over there,” he said.
“We spent three hours signing autographs in a bank one day.”
They also had some fun playing on people’s ignorance, even in Canada.
Gagnon recalled one of his teammates messing with the media in Vancouver. During a press conference with former Vancouver Millionaires star Cyclone Taylor, who endorsed the Canyon Bears’ Belgium trip, one of the players told reporters they used to beaver tails for shin pads and moose dung for hockey pucks back in Moricetown.
“They ate it up,” said Gagnon.
“It was a bit of a fabrication but it was good for a laugh anyway.”
And good for bringing the community together, he said.
“Team members came up with the airfare and fundraising in the communities took care of the accommodations and expenses,” Gagnon said.
“The organizers were really great. They put us up in really inexpensive places and really promoted us. We played to full houses everywhere we went.”
Gagnon believes it was an invaluable experience for him and his teammates and thinks it would be good for kids of the community today. But he didn’t know whether it would ever happen again.
“Some of the guys around here have talked about it but all the organizers are gone. Nobody has the contacts [in Europe] anymore.”
Still, the Moricetown hockey tradition continues. Both the Novice and Atom Motown Junior Bears had undefeated seasons this year and took first place in the recent Prince George All-Native Tournament.