Lack of funds worry Indigenous Games officials

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Officials of The North American Indigenous Games Society are worried funding will not come through in time with the first North American Indigenous Games only five month away.

Lloyd Auger, chairman of the Games; cultural committee, says the society has yet to receive any funding for the event which will be held in Edmonton June 30 to July 8.

"I am beginning to wonder when is it going to get, where is the money? The athletes are training. Is it all for naught?" questioned Auger. "From my personal standpoint, you can't really plan and commit yourself because the money isn't there."

"We know well enough that the federal government will not tell us until the eleventh hour if they're going to give us some support at all," said Games Chairman Charles Wood.

"(The) federal agencies seem to have a tendency to keep people dangling to the eleventh hour to indicate any kind of support."

The society had requested $2.3 million from the federal government to run the Olympic-style event but may not get it, he indicated.

But the Games will go ahead whether it gets funding or not, declared Wood.

"We've had to pare down on the funding and our latest request to the federal government is for $750,000," he said.

The Games committee hopes to have the funds by March. By then, depending on when and how much funding they get, supplementary staff, technicians, and other resources will come from the Alberta government and the city of Edmonton.

"The whole initiative depends on the type of response the Games board gets from the feds," explained Wood.

A Fitness Canada spokesman poured cold water of funding the games.

"Chances (of getting funding) are extremely limited," said Fitness Canada consultant Alan Baird in a terse comment.

"They (Games committee) don't have a track record."

Baird explained that Fitness Canada and Sport Canada support the development of Canadian athletes and do not sponsor competitive events.

Sports Canada, the Secretary of State, and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada could not be reached for comment.

"We can still run the Games with one dollar because everyone is going to volunteer (to help run the Games)," claimed Games Manager John Fletcher.

About 1,000 volunteers are needed to help run sports events and activities, added Fletcher, who himself has worked free since January 1989 to help organize the games.

Volunteer sign-up forms were available Feb. 1 and "several hundred" people have offered their services, including Indian bands and various Native organizations, according to Wood.

"We just want people who would like to volunteer for one week," Fletcher said.

Housing is "pretty well completed," noted Wood.

Accommodation for the estimated 3,000 Native athletes have been booked at the University of Alberta, city of Edmonton campgrounds, and city hotels which have been asked to give cheaper rates.

The National Indian Athletic Association (NIAA), a joint body between Canada and the United States, formed the North American Indigenous Games Society in January 1989 to plan the Games.

Fletcher is the sergeant-at-arms for the NIAA and Wetaskiwin MP Willie Littlechild is the NIAA vice-president.

aboriginal people from across North America have been invited to the Games which will include spiritual and cultural activities.

There will be 16 sports events including golf, rodeo, as well as traditional Inuit games. Social and cultural activities include Indian games, an inter-tribal powwow, a parade, elders' games and others.