b'THE STARTTelling the story of Indigenous athletes in so-called elite sports is already beginning to happen. The exploits of runner Tom Longboat, hockey player JordinTootoo,basketballplayer Michael Linklater and kayaker Alwyn Morris are already celebrated. But there is still little recognition of the world of traditional sports and games, such as finger pull, snow snake, stick pull, hand games and pole push, which make up the Dene Games, or events included in the Inuit Games, such as high kick, knuckle hop, ear pull and blanket toss.Indigenous athletes are not just notable when they excel in mainstream sport, but also when theyre able to continue their traditional games in a way that provides meaning to their lives, points out Victoria Paraschak, a professor in the Department of KinesiologyattheUniversityof Windsor who has devoted her career to Indigenous sport. She adds that it is also important for non-Indigenous Canadians to learn about cultural practices as we learn about their sports, and to view practitioners in these pursuits not as an exotic other, but rather as an athlete.One of the organizations that has been engaged in telling these stories long before the advent of CTA 87 By Sarah B. Hood is the Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC), Canadas national voice for Aboriginal sport established in 1995. Aboriginal Sport Circle plays a critical role to advance conversations that will lead to increased resources to Indigenous communities and athletes, says ASC CEO Carey Calder.Niitsitapi- Graham LPA highlight of ASCs activities is their partnershipwithHockeyCanada to oversee the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships. ASC and its member organizations also administer the North American Indigenous Games as well as the annual Tom Longboat Award, which was inaugurated in the 1950s to recognize Aboriginal athletes for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada.This years award recipients were Cameron Gayleard, a Mtis from Manitoba who competes in volleyball for the Canadian Mennonite University, Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT13'