This is just one experience. 


Walking through a sun-drenched Trinity Western University campus, which is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territories of the Sto:lo people, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound defenseman stands out. Landon Fuller is wearing low top Converse sneakers and patterned shorts. His imposing figure belies his affable personality. 

Fuller, 21, has been with the TWU men's hockey team for less than a month. While he has a five-year junior hockey career already behind him, his Spartans journey is just beginning. Join us for the ride.


As it happens these days, the first time we meet is on a Zoom call. It's a Monday night. Fuller has already put in a full day of online classes coupled with an on-ice practice. Yet, he's still keen for a lengthy chat. Fifty minutes later, it makes sense why. 


Fuller's lineage, through his father, Brian Fuller, weaves back a few generations to the Prairies where the Cree heritage of his great-grandfather is firmly rooted in the Kawacatoose First Nation. 

"I'm very proud of my Native background and it was a huge part of my life," says Landon, who was born and raised in Williams Lake, B.C.

He doesn't always get asked about his Indigenous roots and he might not always talk about it, but it's very much a part of who he is.

For a moment, he pauses and, with Orange Shirt Day (Sept. 30) on the horizon, he recalls his ancestry. For his closest relatives – including "Grandma Fuller," who was, before her passing, his deepest connection to his Indigenous culture – their experiences didn't include the atrocities that comprised the Canada's residential schools. Yet he doesn't have to look beyond that tight-knit circle to see family members who indeed were enveloped in the government-sponsored and Christian-run boarding schools. 

"For me, it's about both reflecting on the past and understanding what happened, but also looking to what the future holds," says Fuller, as he considers how Orange Shirt Day is, "designed to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation." (as described by Orange Shirt Society).

"It's about the future and what we're going to do to make a better future for Indigenous peoples. The residential schools was something that you never learned about much in school and it was glazed over. But to prevent repeating history, you need to learn about the past and it's definitely something that needs to be better understood."


Sitting in his bedroom in his Langley, B.C. home, he starts unravelling the opportunity he now has at TWU to help bring change.

"I definitely want to take advantage of the platform that I have," Fuller says.

Upon ending our Zoom call, I realize he might be the perfect character to do just that. 


In Williams Lake, the Fuller family has a bit of a reputation. 

They're the hard-working logging family with a hockey-centric bent and a Christian faith. His three older brothers, Tyler, 34, Evan, 32, and Brady, 29, were all central figures in their Williams Lake teams growing up. They were tough and they were hard-nosed. All four brothers, including Landon, went on to play junior hockey, with the quartet combining to earn 1,540 penalty minutes in 751 junior hockey games. 

When they weren't playing hockey, they were helping their dad, who was a hand faller in forest operations, run the family business.

"I was running skidder and doing hand bucking when I was a young lad," Landon says. "It was a lifestyle for us."

Basically that means, he was using a large machine to pull felled trees out of the forest and then he was cutting them into appropriately sized logs for the truck to pick up. 

"It's a hard business and it's stressful," says Fuller, whose dad was also a road builder. "There were some tough times for sure, but it built me into the man that I am today. It taught me a lot about hard work."

Yet, behind the on-ice knuckles, the corner battles and the lumberjack life was a smiling Landon with a heart for people. 

"I think the best memories I have about hand-logging were when it's 20 below and you have a fire at lunch – cooking your sandwiches – and you're just sitting around having a chat." 

Upon moving through his junior hockey career, his passion for people remained pervasive. 

After his final year with the Vernon Vipers (BCHL), 2019-20, the stay-at-home blueliner was named the Vipers "Fan Favourite" and was a co-winner of the Rienie Holland Community Service Award. 

The fans loved him, his teammates loved him (of course they did because he's always the first guy to have their back) and the young kids he would read with as part of the Vipers in-school programing obviously were instant supporters.

It's hard to get to know someone between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on a Monday night after a long day. But, maybe, that's actually when true character comes out. Fuller's positivity was steadfast. 

It becomes obvious Fuller is rooted in his Faith.

"When I was 16, that was really a pivotal moment for my testimony and when I really came to Christ," he says. "But it was such a difficult relationship to build within the hockey world. It's a walk that you're walking by yourself in many ways. There were many dark times, but I leaned on Christ with everything I did. It's constantly humbling, but every time I came through those moments, I came closer to God and my relationship grew."

Over the course of our conversation, several times he suggests his "brains a bit fried." Given it all, that's fair. 

Yet, it remains perfectly clear that when it comes to his faith, his far-reaching family and his teammates, Fuller wants to help make a difference. 

With a smile, he's set to take the stage – on Orange Shirt Day and beyond. 


This is Landon Fuller's experience.