The Indigenous Games will go on

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The once endangered North American Indigenous Games have been plucked from the frying pan.

"The Games are on," announced Charles Wood, chairman of the North American Indigenous Games Society, at a banquet March 24. "We have received word federal Moines are coming."

Originally budgeted at $2.3 million, the games were in danger of having insufficient funds because the federal government hadn't responded to a request for money. As a result, funds were delayed from other agencies, which required the federal government first contribute.

Health and welfare Canada will contribute $50,000 and other contributions will follow soon, Wood said.

The games are now budgeted at just $750,000; golf and rodeo tournaments have been dropped.

"The province has requested a meeting with us to consider our (funding) proposal," he added. "It seems like everybody waits for the federal government as to what they will do. What will happen now is this will have a domino effect. I'm sure the province will kick in something as will the city of Edmonton."

Corporate sponsorship and donations are also coming from various aboriginal organizations, Wood said.

About 4,000 volunteers are needed to help run the games; 2,000 have already signed up, Wood declared. The games will be held June 30 - July 8 and events include archery, basketball, boxing, canoeing, swimming, wrestling and track and field. About 3,000 athletes aged 13-19 are expected to participate.

This will give Native youth a chance to prove themselves, said former Olympian Alwynn Morris, and provide stepping stones to other events like the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

"Just think of how many young Native people are wondering how it would be to stand on the winner's podium," said Morris, a gold medal winner in the kayaking competition in the 1984 Olympics.

The games will foster a positive competitive spirit among young Native people, because they are forever fighting against the stereotypes of modern society, he added.

He said the games will give them the chance to beat problems like alcohol and drug abuse.

The current generation of youth can be a powerful force in the future if adults lead them in the right direction, Morris said. They are an "untapped resource," he said.

"In this day and age our youth are at a crossroads," declared Robert Salgado, a Soboba Indian from California. "If you do not direct the youth, you will lose that generation. A lot of drugs are going around, a lot of people are using our young people."

Raising youth out of alcohol and drug abuse means there must be opportunities for them, he said, and the games provide that chance.