Indigenous fitness leaders go beyond physical wellness – The Globe and Mail
Fitness has always been part of Joel Pedersen’s life, though he did not expect it would lead him to his current work. “Twenty-one-year-old Joel never thought he’d be a social entrepreneur,” Pedersen says, laughing at his younger self.
Growing up, Pedersen’s childhood was rich in physical activity, from cross-country skiing and canoeing to playing soccer. Even while serving in the Canadian Army Reserves and working as a police officer for the Saskatoon Police Service for 25 years, fitness remained vital to Pedersen, who hails from Fond du Lac First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation and Métis Nation Saskatchewan. Throughout his life, he witnessed how physical activity could unite people, especially when coaching youth sports or playing basketball and street hockey with kids when on police duty.
“At the time, it was foreign to a lot of inner-city kids, especially Indigenous kids, to see a young Indigenous person doing that,” he says.
