Team spirit and generous hospitality marks games

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From the opening ceremonies at the North American Indigenous Games in Winnipeg July 25 to the closing ceremonies on Aug. 4, thousands of athletes, volunteers, and spectators shared in the excitement, exuberance and team spirit that dominated 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 made visible by their colorful tracksuits, representing their traditional territories, cultures and sports.

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 the games have been held, and they are recognized as the largest Aboriginal sporting competition 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 licence 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.

Hearing these types of comments from all these participants from all over Canada and the United States is great," 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 16 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 six competitive age classifications, for both male and female athletes: Bantam, 13 and 14 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, 1952 and older.

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

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