Indigenous Games largest ever

Page 22

More than 8,100 Native athletes from some 40 states and provinces converged on Blaine, Minn., early this month. The suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 20 minutes north of the Twin Cities, is home of the National Sports Centre. Some competitors found themselves competing at venues as far as 60 km from the main venue, and accommodations were widespread, as well.

In spite of the strain of dealing with the athletes, as well as coaches; team, provincial and state staffs; relatives and fans, and Mississippi valley humidity, the third annual games went off successfully. Athletes from Canada did very well, with Team Saskatchewan finishing in first place and Team Alberta finishing second.

From the opening ceremonies, in a packed National Sports Centre stadium on July 31, to the closing ceremonies, in the same facility on Aug. 5, records were set. First were the attendance records, which saw individual and team registration marks shattered: for the first time, there was general representation from most American states with Native populations.

Second, there were the outstanding performances, on the track, in the pool and in individual and team sports. Archery, badminton, boxing, canoeing, golf, rifle shooting, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, track and field and wrestling were individual competitions. In baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball, teams squared off.

A special place was reserved for the only Indigenous sport celebrated at the games. (or, indeed, commonly played), Lacrosse. A three-day competition at the National Sports Centre saw clubs from the east and west, Canada and the U.S. exhibiting their skills in the field.

Most sports included competitions broken down by age and gender. Organizers of the games movement stressed the importance of the games to the young athletes, as an opportunity to excel and to meet and compete with other Native people, and they stressed the importance of the young athletes to the games.