The 1 9 9 7 N o rt h - A m e r i c a n

Indigenous Games
 
The Aboriginal peoples of British Columbia will be staging the 1997 North American Indigenous Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from August 3-10, 1997. The three previous games were held in Edmonton, Alberta (1990); Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (1993); and Blaine Minnesota (1995). The North American Indigenous Games is the largest gathering of Aboriginal youth in North America. The philosophy of the North American Indigenous Games is to cultivate the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of the individual's well being and complete development. The Games are entirely drug and alcohol free. The Elders teach that in order to achieve good health and wholeness, sport and culture must be part of each other. They form an indivisible circle with no beginning and no end. This is the spirit of the Games, to celebrate the circle.  

THE GAMES will offer a combination of artistic, cultural, spiritual and sporting events for approximately 4,500 ath-letes, ages 13-21 and 500 senior athletes, age 22 and older. The athletes will complete in sixteen Olym-pic style sports at venues throughout the Greater Victoria area. The sport program will take place August 4-9, 1997 between the hours of 9:00 AM to 4:00PM daily.
 
 
Accredditation 

All participants will be issued photo accredation to allow venue specific access and to manage accomodation and catering arrangments. The 1997 North American Indigenous Games is blazing a new trail and working to-wards the integration of athletes with a disability into this year's games. Special Olympics was the first to come on board and since then, wheelchair, blind and cerebral palsy sport organi-zations have been keen to foolow their lead. The athletes will be competing primarily in trak events such as the 100M, 400M, 800M, and 1500M. This type of partnership will help enchance opportunities and provide legacies for Aboriginal athletes with disabilities. 

The planners of the 1997 North America Indigenous Games believed that sport Games and culture should play equal roles.  

War Canoe Races

Structured Salish war canoe races have been a part of Victoria's history since the 1800's and are an annual event at various sites in British Columbia and Washington State. Dozens of canoes gather in friendly competition. The Salish war canoes are world renowned for their speed and often win interna-tional canoe races. Celebrity races, (ministers, mayors, community lead-ers, sponsors), traditional salmon barbecues and cultural sharing are also very popular parts of the event.  

Artic Sports

This demonstration will be conducted under the rules as developed and approved by the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. The two main categories are Inuit Games and Dene Games. The Artic Sports are currently in the plaaning stages. 
Hoop Dancing

The ancient ceremonial hoop dance is one of the most visually exciting and intricate of all Native American dances. There are many diverse varia-tions of the intertribal hoop dance . Dancers weave in aspects of their distinct traditions and cultures. As few as five to as many as fifty hoops are used and dancers fashion them into shapes that include animals, butter-flies, and globes. 

Lahal (Stick Games)

This age-old game, played to the chanting of songs and the beating of hand held drums, involves the ex-change of carved bones or sticks from one team to another. Each team is composed of onecaptain, called a guesser and four to twelve players (male and female). The hider on one team hides two bones in his hands, one "male' marked bone and one "female" unmarked bone. The guesser on the other team must guess which hand holds the female bone. If he guesses correctly he collects a carved stick from the other team and the score is recorded by the number of sticks a team aquires. The winning team is the one that ends up with all the sticks plus the king stick. This may take from 30 minutes to eight hours. 

Futsal (Indoor Soccer)

The Cowichan Tribes are hosting Futsol; also called "five-a-side" soccer, or indoor soccer. The game is designed to be played on a five-a-side basketball court, with a non-bouncing ball. It demonstrates such skills as stop and go, ball control, dribbling, shooting power and strategy. This game originated in South America, where Brazil alone has 5 million players. The Cowichan Tribes have extended invitations to Australia (confirmed), Fiji, Hawaii, Brazil and Mexico. 

 Special cultural events will be taking place during the games include  
  • Tribal Journeys
  • Coast Salish Welcome Ceremony
  • Opening/Closing Ceremonies
  • Demonstration events
  • Culutral Village
The cultural component of the 1997 North American Indigenous Games will be an oppurtunity for Indigenous peoples from across North America Central/South America, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Norway to come together in the spirit of sharing the richness of their respective cultures. 
Tribal Journeys

The 1997 Tribal Journeys - a 600 mile canoe expedition along the Northwest coast - representatives of some 60 ocean going canoes from 40 First Nations will enter the Victoria Harbour by canoe, and will be received by the Coast Salish Nation in a traditional welcoming ceremony. From there, pullers and cultural partici-pants to the Games will proceed to the University of Victoria's Centennial Stadium for the Games' Opening Ceremonies.Everyone is welcome to join us as we celebrate, acknowledge and welcome each nation of Indigenous peolpes. In the last decade, a resurgence of the canoe culture has taken place on the Northwest Coast of North America and in many other parts of the world. 

Cultural Village

The planners of the 1997 North America Indigenous Games believed that sport and culture should play equal roles. Reflect-ing this philosophy, the North American Indigenous Games are a partnership of sports and culture. The Cultural Village will have an indigenous arts &crafts/ food component as well as an outdoor cultural mainstage. This stage will feature indigenous cultures of the world.