b'SPORTING COMPETITIONSThe North American Indigenous Games celebrate both sports and Indigenous cultureLet the Games BeginBy Warren HeeleyTh r e e key I n d i g e n o u s s p o r t i n g eve n t s h e l p e n t i c e I n d i g e n o u s yo u t h t o a l i fe o f s p o r t , a t h l e t i c i s m a n d s p i r i tu a l we l l n e s sI ndigenous sporting competitionsand celebration of the uniqueness ofand find something constructive for the have a long and storied historyIndigenous culture. These objectivesyoung people to look forward to where in Canada that goes back nearlyform the foundation of the thinking thatyoung Aboriginal people could come 50 years. It was in 1970 that thehelped pull these events together andtogether to excel in their athletic field of Arctic Winter Games (AWG) wereturn them into the successful endeav- endeavour and make new friendships.first held, and that same year the ideaours they are today.of a North American Indigenous GamesLynne Anne Hogan, manager of the (NAIG) took hold, with the first NAIGCharles Wood, chairperson of NAIG,PEI Aboriginal Sport Circle, summa-taking place in 1990. More recently, thetouched on these goals at the inau- rizes it as follows: A primary objective Atlantic Indigenous Games were addedgural launch of the largest of the threefor organizing the NAIG was to provide to the list, with the first successful eventevents almost 20 years ago. The vision held in Halifax in July 2019.of NAIG from the very beginning wasIndigenous youth with opportunities to one of our interest and concern aboutimprove their health, interact and learn The objectives for all three Games focuswhat was happening among the youngfrom their peers in other Indigenous on bringing Indigenous youth togetherpeople in all of our communities, hecommunities, and reduce exposure to forfriendlysportingcompetitionsaid. We took it upon ourselves to tryat-risk situations in their lives.26A CCAB PUBLICATION2020'