Indigenous Games Gear Up

By Niigonwedom (james sinclair)

(Winnipeg, Manitoba) Hot off the tremendous success of the Pan-American Games in 1999, Winnipeg is gearing up for another huge sporting event: the 2002 North American Indigenous (NAI) Games.

            From July 25 – August 4, 2002 over 7000 athletes and coaches will descend on Manitoba for these, the fifth NAI Games.  Previous locations have included: Victoria, B.C. (1997), Blaine, Minnesota (1995), Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (1993), and Edmonton, Alberta (1990). 

Winnipeg’s Games are expected to be the biggest contingent of teams ever, and this has led organizers to the hardest aspect of these Games: negotiating the Athlete’s Villages.  “It’s not easy.  What we’re trying to do is learn from the Pan-American Games, use those facilities and make the NAI Games bigger, but for less money,” explained Christian Sinclair, General Manager of the NAIG Organizing Committee.  Currently, plans are for athletes and coaches to stay at the campus of Red River College, a local army base, and local schools.

These Games will feature athletes in thirteen non-traditional sports (athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, rifle shooting, soccer, softball/fastball, swimming, tae kwon doe, volleyball and freestyle wrestling) and three traditional sports (3-D archery, canoeing and lacrosse) with athletes ranging in age from bantam (13-14 years old, midget (15-16), Juvenile (17-18), Junior (19-21) and senior (22 and over). 

Athletes have often used the Games as a springboard to other successes in the athletic world, such as Waneek Horn-Miller, a Mohawk from Kahnawake, who captured 20 gold medals at the NAI Games between 1990 and 1997 before captaining Team Canada in water-polo at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 

Other communities, however, see the Games as a source of inspiration for their youth to strive for success. For many young people just having a chance to compete for their community, province or state is an honour itself.  It is this spirit in which the Games were created: “The Games were created in response to a need in the Aboriginal community for youth to see something to strive for, something to believe in.  Elders saw that through sport and celebration our youths have joined together not for violence but for teamwork and cooperation,” says Sinclair.

Local, provincial and the federal government have agreed, committing more than 6.75 million dollars to stage the Games, with another 2 million dollars expected from the private sector and registration fees.  The Winnipeg Free Press recently signed on as the primary media sponsor throughout the Games.

The organization of teams and training has already started in many provinces and states, but has not come without some problems.  Sinclair explains: “The response has been historically mixed throughout Turtle Island.  In areas like Mexico there is no governing sporting body so we don’t tend to get athletes from there.  The same happens in pockets throughout the United States, while in other areas we see a massive amount of support by local bands and governments.  In Western Canada most provinces are already organizing while in other areas such as the Maritimes funding problems have led to problems for those teams.”

Sinclair explains that the most competitive events are expected in basketball, volleyball and softball/fastball, where traditionally the tournaments have all featured top-quality teams.

The Games will also include several cultural and ceremonial events, all celebrating the Indigenous peoples of North America, from the Hopi to the Ojibwe to the Inuit and the Pueblo.

Joy Keeper, Communications and Public Relations Director for the Games, explains that the cultural component of the games, such as the opening and closing ceremonies, are as important as the athletic events itself: “Often when Canadians think of Aboriginal people they think of pow-wows, but we’re out to show throughout these Games that we are a multi-faceted blend of cultures.  We want to show where we are now, not just where we have been. We plan to have rap, rock and roll, dancing and comedy throughout.”

The legacy of the 2002 NAI Games, according to the organizing committee, is not physical constructions and buildings but the breaking down of barriers.  “The most important thing about these Games is that we see Native and non-Native people working together for something, a product that everyone can be proud of.  We expect to have 5000 Native and non-Native volunteers,” said Randy LeBleu, Assistant General Manager of the NAI Games. 

Any interested spectators or volunteers can email the Organizing Committee at: 2002naig@mb.aibn.com or check the 2002 NAIG website at: http://www.2002naig.com.

All are invited to participate, states LeBleu. “This is going to be one of the greatest opportunities for our people to join together with each other, our elders and our youths while taking ourselves into the new millennium.  From Florida to the tip of Nunavut we’ll see everyone here in Winnipeg.  I’m looking forward to it!”