Indigenous Games best in North America

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From the opening ceremonies at the North American Indigenous Games in Winnipeg July 28, to the closing ceremonies on August 4, thousands of athletes, volunteers, and spectators shared in the excitement, exuberance and team spirit that was evident throughout the 11-day sporting event. At any time of day, hundreds of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit youth on Winnipeg streets and at the sporting events were visible by their colorful tracksuits, representing their traditional territories, cultures and sport.

More than 6,300 of the best Aboriginal athletes were vying for gold silver or bronze in 16 sporting events.

This is the fifth time these games have been held, and they are recognized as the largest Aboriginal sport competitions anywhere. According to Dene Sinclair, communications manager for the games, the event was immensely successful.

"It really completely blew my mind; it exceeded everything that I was expecting. These games are so important for the kids, for them to have an opportunity to come together and to share together not only their cultures but also in sport. For a lot of them it is the first time they've competed internationally. It was an honor to have them here at my home in Winnipeg, and to see what a success it was," she said.

"I would like to say congratulations to all the teams, they've worked really hard to get as many medals as they did. So, way to go.

"One of the most popular comments I received throughout the week was how friendly Winnipeg is. That the license plate saying friendly Manitoba is so fitting. So many people told me that they are really looking forward to coming back to Winnipeg, whether for their own personal reasons or for another event. Winnipeg treated them so well. It makes me proud to be from Winnipeg," said Sinclair.

"The weather was awesome. It was wonderful . . . there were no mosquitoes, which was very unusual for Winnipeg."

"It was really a great time to be in Winnipeg. The teams were amazing - they really took responsibility for their athletes. They really showed that they were really serious about this event. They were taking it really seriously. There was zero tolerance for any misbehavior and for any disrespect of any sort. All the teams really took a stand. They really set an example for the younger kids and that was really, really important," said Sinclair.

The Forks, a site located close to downtown, was filled with hundreds of people during the cultural and musical entertainment component of the games. A number of other locations in the city also featured musicians and comedy acts.

The sixteen sporting events were 3-D archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, field lacrosse, golf, rifle shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, tae kwon do, volleyball, wrestling and athletics. There were five competitive age classifications, for both male and female athletes: Bantam, 13 and14 years old; Midget 15 and 16 years old; Juvenile 17 and 18 years old; Junior 19 to 21 years old; Senior 22 years and older; and Masters, age 50 and older.

Some of the venues for the games included Bird's Hill Park; Labarriere Park; U of M field track; Lipsett Hall's Pan Am Pool; John Blumberg Softball Complex; and the Glen Murphy Range. A number of elementary, junior and high school gymnasiums throughout the city also held sport competitions.

According to Sinclair, the North American Indigenous Games council is currently looking at Buffalo N.Y. as being the site for the games in 2005.

Ontario took 60 gold, 44 silver and 34 bronze medals for a fourth-place finish.

The games were seen on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the official host broadcaster.