DEH CHO - Vanessa Sanguez will never forget performing in front of close to 20,000 people during the Olympics.

"It was amazing and it was so exciting," she said.

photo courtesy of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs Carly Gon, left, of Behchoko and Vanessa Sanguez of Jean Marie River demonstrate stick pull to an audience at Northern House in Vancouver during the Olympics.

Sanguez, along with four other youth ambassadors, was chosen to participate in the Northwest Territories' performance at B.C. Place during the victory ceremony on Feb. 19. The performance capped off NWT Day in Vancouver.

The Jean Marie River resident joined Fort Simpson residents Wesley Hardisty and Jerry Antoine on stage. Sanguez performed in a drum dance and a square dance.

All of the performers put in long hours of preparation for the show, said Sanguez, and it was worth it in the end.

"Everybody loved it," she said.

The 21-year-old said she was in awe of the size of the crowd at the stadium.

"It was like, oh my God, I've never seen such a crowd to see us perform."

Sanguez was one of 11 Deh Cho residents, including performing and visual artists, Dene games athletes and youth ambassadors, who were part of the territories' delegation to the Olympic Games. Each returned from Vancouver with stories describing their memorable experiences.

Youth ambassadors Calvin Lomen, Cheryl Bertrand and Tyson McLeod represented Fort Liard at Canada's Northern House. Lomen was in Vancouver from Feb. 10 to 22 while Bertrand and McLeod were part of the second wave of delegates from Feb. 17 to 28.

At Northern House, established to promote the three Northern territories, Lomen helped demonstrate Dene games. These included handgames, finger pull and stick pull. The audience really liked watching handgames as well as Inuit games like the high kick, he said.

Lomen said he was proud to demonstrate the games.

"I like showing people what people from the North can do," he said.

With two other ambassadors, Lomen also had the opportunity to give Premier Floyd Roland a tour of Northern House. The ambassadors tried to tell Roland things about the North, but the premier kept adding extra details, said Lomen. In the end, Roland ended up giving the tour to the ambassadors, Lomen said with a laugh.

Cheryl Bertrand, 19, said the number of visitors to Northern House surprised her. There were often line-ups for two blocks to get in the doors and many people said it was the best pavilion, according to Bertrand.

In her free time, Bertrand explored downtown Vancouver and she also had a chance to help demonstrate the blanket toss event in Whistler. Bertrand said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be at the Olympics, and she encourages other teenagers to apply for the youth ambassador program.

"It was breathtaking. I can't find words to explain how I felt," Bertrand said.

For sisters Robyn and Shawna McLeod of Fort Providence, promoting traditional games was their purpose for being at the Olympics. The sisters were two of the traditional games athletes from the territory.

The athletes performed at Northern House as well as Grouse Mountain, Surrey, Yaletown and a few street locations in Vancouver. Handgames was very popular, said Shawna.

In addition to demonstrating the games, the athletes encouraged members of the audience to try them too. Most people got the hang of handgames after a little while, Shawna said.

"Some got really into it and played," said Robyn.

Being in Vancouver during the Olympics was "amazing" and "awesome," Robyn said.

"There was lots of people, so many people it was crazy," she said.

One of Robyn's highlights from the Olympics includes seeing Wayne Gretzky on two different occasions. On the first occasion Robyn was part of the crowd that followed Gretzky as he carried the torch from the opening ceremonies at B.C. Place down to the waterfront.

"It was really cool experiencing everything like that instead of watching it on the TV from my couch," she said.

All of the youth did a wonderful of job promoting the NWT to the world, said Shane Thompson.

Thompson, the regional sport and recreation co-ordinator with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in Fort Simpson, was at the Olympics working with both the youth ambassadors and the traditional athletes.

"I was totally impressed by our youth," he said.

Everyone commented on how positive, polite and knowledgeable the youth were, said Thompson. They really cared about promoting the North and interacted with delegates from the other two territories to make sure that happened, he said.

Being part of the delegation changed many of the youth. Thompson said he could see the difference as they spoke in front of crowds, interacted with visitors at the Northern House and confidently made their way down even the busiest streets in Vancouver.

"It was totally amazing watching these youth perform at such a high level," he said.

One Deh Cho resident still has an Olympic rendezvous to come. Malorey Nirlungayuk of Fort Simpson will be at the Paralympics as a youth ambassador from March 10 to 22.