Alberta football rivals share traditional Cree smudge before kickoff – CTV News
EDMONTON — Prior to smashing and bashing each other in an all-female battle in Spruce Grove Thursday, linebacker Alicia Gladue led both teams in something rarely seen on a football field.
Before kickoff – Gladue, a young Cree and Dene woman from Northern Alberta – gathered all players and coaches in a circle, where she lit a traditional Indigenous smudge for both teams to share.
“I just bless my body. (With the smoke) I go over my head so I can think good things, go to my ears so I can hear good things, go to my mouth so I can say good things,” Gladue explained.
Gladue is a captain with the Fort McKay Northern Spirits, based in the First Nation community about an hour north of Fort McMurray.
Read More: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-football-rivals-share-traditional-cree-smudge-before-kickoff-1.5528944