[Editorial] Herculean task before us

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but if it’s clearly in need of repair, roll up your sleeves and ‘get ‘er done.’ And what is clearly broke is the hosting model being employed by the North American Indigenous Games Council.

Every year that the games are to be hosted in the United States we brace ourselves for the inevitable announcement that the event has been cancelled.

What is supposed to happen is that First Nations within Canada host the games, then the tribes of the United States host, and then Canada, and so on. But what has happened is that First Nations on the Canada side of the border host, then the United States tribes fail to be able to organize, and then First Nations in Canada try to pick up the pieces where they can, and that cycle goes on interminably.

There has to be a better way that will bring some consistency and reliability to this event. The young people in our communities deserve better. No, strike that. They deserve the best. And to have NAIG USA Inc. cancel the 2011 Games that were to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July next year is neither our best, or for the best. And we are not alone in this thinking.

“I think the people that made the terrible decision (to choose Milwaukee) are going to be held accountable for their incompetence,” said Vice-Chief Morley Watson of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

Now, Mr. Watson hasn’t much of a leg to stand on when he complains of the failure of the NAIG Council to ensure the 2011 Games, given his part in putting the First Nations University of Canada at risk of failure, but nonetheless he stuck his oar in the water of the debate when it comes to the games. And some of what he has to say has merit.

The vice-chief of the FSIN believes, as we do, that changes have to be made, because the current system of choosing host communities is not working.

Saskatchewan has been rejected twice consecutively in its bid to host the games. First their bid failed for the 2008 games. The NAIG Council chose Cowichan nations in B.C. to host that year. So when Saskatchewan’s bid failed for the 2011 games, it was a blow. Watson’s nose, perhaps understandably, is a little out of joint on this issue. But, according to a Regina Leader-Post report, Watson believes Saskatchewan’s bid failure may be due to the success of that province’s First Nations, which have dominated NAIG competition in years past.

“Rather than people admiring what we do for our young people, they tend to be overcome by jealousy instead of admiration,” said Watson. Sounds like sour grapes to us, and that’s not how good sports play, but that’s neither here nor there.

The thing that Watson fails to acknowledge in such comments, however, is that the Games are not remotely about winning or losing. Being the top province or the ones at the bottom of the pile, this is not what the games are about at all in our opinion.

The NAIG movement is not just about a week-long event held every couple of years where some kids win and some kids lose. It’s about hope and challenge. The Games become a reason to get out of bed each day to train muscles and mind. They become a venue for discovering hidden talent, developing qualities like hard work and perseverance that will serve these youth well in their lives going forward. This is what the cancelation of the Milwaukee games is depriving these kids of.

The Aboriginal Sports, Recreation and Physical Activity Partners Council sent out a press release from Duncan, B.C. in July, shortly after the cancelation of the games became known. It said that the NAIG Council expressed concern that the cancelation would cause “distress among Indigenous youth.”

Well, of course it will be distressing, but worse, it will be another reason for Aboriginal youth to decry the failure of adults to address their needs and concerns.

The one thing that we know for sure is that consistency and reliability in our dealings with young people are critical to their success and achievement. Too often there is an unreliable home environment. Too often grassroots programs are not sustainable due to the ridiculous year to year funding that is based on the whims of provincial and federal government agencies.

In the place of all that is positive about the Games, the failure of the NAIG Council to ensure the success of the 2011 games, in fact, is breeding further apathy and additional, unnecessary despair.

We know what the Games mean to these young people. We know that when they are successfully executed they are a gift that lifts negativity and encourages a joyfulness that ripples through the communities of the participants and through the families of the athletes over the years.
We agree with Vice-chief Watson when he says, “We have to lead and we have to ensure that there’s something for our young people. We can’t let talent and abilities and all of that go to waste...”

We look forward to the NAIG Council coming up with some creative problem solving in the coming months to allow competition to go forward We don’t underestimate the great task that is now necessary, but we encourage a Herculean effort be made to save the games.
Windspeaker