Watching from the third baseline of the Tlu-piich Games ball pitch at Echo Park in Port Alberni, Lonnie Erickson chuckled and says he’s too old to batter up.
But the grandad, who is 31 years sober, feels proud to simply spend the day cheering for his family as they take to the field.
His team ‘The Resistance’, or Hushbuk as they called themselves for 2026 Tlu-piich Games softball tournament, is all about camaraderie rather than winning. (With that said, the team dominated the competition, rounding base after base to score a glorious tournament title.)
“I raised all my daughters playing ball and now I’m raising my grandsons. This is where I love being, at softball,” said Erickson.
“Our resistance is our existence,” he said. “For life, for rights, that’s what it stands for.”
His daughter Kerry, 37, designed the black and white Resistance team logo, which features a feathered headdress and a gas mask.
“Our team is mostly Nuu-chah-nulth. Everyone is related. It’s mostly Hesquiaht and Tseshahts,” said Kerry.
“Our dad is Métis-Ojibway, so I like to draw the headdress. I just love the look of it. It’s my logo for a couple of years,” she shared.
Kim Erickson, 41, played the demanding role of shortstop during the August 6 and 7 Nuu-chah-nulth Nations softball tournament. Kim, a therapist at Kackaamin Family Development Centre, used to play collegiate softball at Mid-Continent in Kentucky, U.S.A.
“I think (the logo) is reclaiming who we are as Indigenous. It’s strength in the resistance,” Kim adds.
Over the past decade, several professional sports teams have rebranded, dropping offensive names. The Washington Redskins NFL team are now the Washington Commanders; the Cleveland Indians MLB franchise changed their name to the Guardians; and in 2021 the Edmonton Eskimos CFL team became the Edmonton Elks.
Kerry said she drew the gas mask on the Resistance logo to symbolize colonization.
“It’s another level of resistance. They do whatever they could to get rid of us and we are still here. We are still proud. The gas mask is another tool for survival,” Kim said.
While the sisters joked that the tournament started well behind schedule and that they had to screw down the bases themselves, they said that “Native ball serves a different level of respect.”
“When we were kids, the Tlu-piich Games were always really big. It was always really fun and something to look forward to. Now that we are older and we have our own kids, it’s just fun to get out here with our families. These are all the people we grew up with,” said Kerry.
