Darren Campbell
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 04/01) - Roy Desjarlais, executive director of the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the Western Arctic, is an organizer for the NWT team that will compete at the Games in Winnipeg next summer.
YellowknifeLife: Even in the NWT, there are some people who don't know what the goal of the North American Indigenous Games is. Could you shed some light on that?
RD: Its goal is to have participation at the community level, reserve level and Metis settlement level. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba saw a need to get (aboriginal) kids some kind of competition that they wouldn't be able to do at the provincial level.
 Roy Desjarlais |
YellowknifeLife: Where is your organization at in terms of preparing for the 2002 North American Indigenous Games?
RD: We're well ahead of schedule. We have sent out three bulletins to all the schools, the band (councils), Metis locals and tribal councils.
YellowknifeLife: So are there going to be North American Indigenous Games trials like there is for the Arctic Winter Games?
RD: We've never gone that route. We tried to leave it up to the regions to define themselves, not to impose anything. We let them define what they are going to do.
YellowknifeLife: A major concern I heard from politicians and people in communities outside of Yellowknife after the Arctic Winter Games ended was they felt those teams were dominated too much by Yellowknife athletes.
With that in mind, is your organization focusing on having a contingent for the 2002 games where the majority of athletes are from outside of Yellowknife?
RD: With most of the teams over the last four games, Yellowknife was never the dominant force. There were dominant forces from the other larger tribal councils and from the Beaufort Sea area.
Yellowknife has never played a major role (in the games). They probably could but because of the diversity of the Yellowknife population base, their numbers are not as great here as they may be in the smaller communities.
YellowknifeLife: Can these games serve as a developmental tool for aboriginal athletes that can help them make the NWT's Arctic Winter Games teams and then Canada Games teams?
RD: Absolutely. It's one of many building blocks available to them.
I look at it in terms of they have an opportunity -- one more than the Yellowknife-based athlete. If they use it wisely, they can proceed into the mainstream. The best athletes always rise to the top if they are given the opportunity.
YellowknifeLife: What is the level of competition at the Indigenous Games and how well does the NWT traditionally stack up against the competition?
RD: The competition at the NAIG games varies depending on the sport that you're in. I can say the NWT in the B.C. (1997) games placed 28th out of 63 teams. And we came away with many golds in track and field and swimming. In team sports, we didn't do as great.
YellowknifeLife: Do you think if you keep working at it and promoting it, the North American Indigenous Games could become for aboriginals kids as big a goal to shoot for as the Arctic Winter Games has become?
RD: I would agree with that. It could be their Olympics at that level.
YellowknifeLife: The last games in 1999 were supposed to be held in Fargo, South Dakota, but it didn't happen. The Fargo games were cancelled. What happened there and is there any chance of the same thing happening in Winnipeg in 2002?
RD: The system in the United States is entirely different that the system in Canada. In Canada, (the games) becomes an agreement between the host society, the city which is hosting it, the provincial government and the federal government. When you have all those parties working together, then the games will be a success. And Winnipeg will be a success because we have the feds onside, the provincials onside, the city is onside and, of course, we have the host society and NAIG council behind that. It's going to be fine.
In Fargo in 1999 I sat on the NAIG council and I looked at their protocol and their agreements. No state government (involved), no federal government and only the City of Fargo and the chamber of commerce. That can't happen when at that time you are looking at 9,000 or 10,000 people coming in.
YellowknifeLife: Why do you think the Indigenous Games are an important event for NWT aboriginal athletes to go to and compete in?
RD: They are important for the aboriginal/First Nations people because they see it as their games. There is an opportunity to shine at an international level with no layers impeding them.
When you put them in that great big pot of other First Nations and they finish with a silver or just finish, they're happy. It's because they have just competed against some of the better athletes in North America, even though they are restricted to First Nations. They can now judge their talents against that level. That is why they associate it as their games.
YellowknifeLife: Is there a certain kind of atmosphere that athletes like about the games that differs from the Canada Games or Arctic Winter Games?
RD: Well, there are two things that they like. All games are the same. If you take the NAIG games and the Arctic Winter Games, one of the more common areas is the camaraderie that goes on between the teams. The friendships -- that is there in the Arctic Winter Games, that is there in the North American Indigenous Games. That is always going to be there. That is what they are there for and they enjoy that.
However, with the First Nations, there is a slightly different moral value to (NAIG). They see it as pride, self determination and esteem, far greater than you would probably get at, let's say, the Arctic Winter Games. Because it's among their own people and they can stand proud. There is a feeling of being who I am.
YellowknifeLife: With the Indigenous Games seemingly allowing aboriginal kids from the smaller communities to make an NWT team, can these kind of games be something that can help ease the social problems the kids face in the communities?
RD: I agree and self esteem is a crucial thing. If it helps them say, "listen, if I can make it to NAIG and see what they've done and see what my New Mexico partner has done and his disadvantages and he's proud to be there, self esteem will be lifted ten-fold. And that's why they get involved.
