Post by Okwes on Jun 13, 2006 13:36:19 GMT -5
Indian athletes given the chance to compete
Russell Dixon is about to compete against some of the best indigenous
athletes in North America, but the self-assured teenager isn't thinking about the
track and field competition.
“To me, I don't even race other people,” said Dixon. “I just go out and see
if I can push myself hard and take my body somewhere it hasn't been. If I
come out the winner, I come out the winner.”
It's a state of mind that has led the 18-year-old from the Fort Berthold
Reservation in North Dakota to six high school state championships in three
events, including cross country and the 1,500- and 3,200-meter races.
Dixon will test his athletic prowess once again July 2-8, during the North
American Indigenous Games in Denver, where approximately 7,100 Canadian and
U.S. athletes will compete before 50,000 spectators in 16 sporting events,
ranging from softball, boxing and swimming to running, archery and lacrosse.
The indigenous games focus on 13- to 18-year-old athletes. Each of the 34
teams registered could recruit as many as 500 teenagers.
Josh Moody of Warm Springs, Ore., will compete in a rifle competition. It
will be the first time he's ever competed with a .22 rifle, although he hunts
regularly. He shot his first buck on the Warm Springs Reservation when he was
11.
“I ceremonial hunt with my dad to get meat for the freezer and give some
meat to other relatives and elders,” he said.
Like Moody, many youths will arrive in Denver having never participated in
an international competition.
“The main complete purpose and the vision for the North American Indigenous
Games was to give the youth ... the opportunity to compete in mainstream
sport,” said Harold Joseph, NAIG national council president.
Otherwise, many talented Native athletes get overlooked in their schools and
miss the chance to compete in local, national and international
competitions, said Joseph. “How do you combat that? You create your own games for your
kids.”
Nearly half of the 1,161 tribes in Canada and the United States will be
represented at the games, including 23 U.S. teams and 11 Canadian. Adults -
anyone 19 and older - will also be competing as a single group in respective
competitions.
The Colorado Indigenous Games Society provided these preliminary
registration numbers: Team Saskatchewan, the largest team overall, will arrive with 690
athletes, 190 of them adult competitors. Team Nunavut, Canada's smallest
team, will arrive with 12 athletes.
The largest U.S. team hails from New Mexico, with 391 athletes. Team Montana
will arrive with 14 members, including Tuff Harris.
Harris, 23, a University of Montana football player, will join adult
athletes. The three-time state long-jump champion also set an all-class state record
in the 100 meters. Harris, who's Crow and Northern Cheyenne, has registered
for the long jump, 100- and 200-meter races.
“It's a prestigious event,” Harris said. “I feel pretty good. I gained a
little weight for football, but the speed's still there.”
Team Montana leader, Joey Jane of Arlee, stepped forward to assemble a
Montana team in January, after the previous “chef de mission” backed out. Jane
said athletes recently have been asking to join the team. But it's too late.
“She's done great with what little time she had,” said Maurice “Mo” Smith,
general manager for the Colorado Indigenous Games Society, who is also
spearheading the Denver games.
Like Jane, most everyone involved in helping organize a state team is a
volunteer.
“The paperwork keeps coming and coming and coming,” said Marva Pretends
Eagle, Team North Dakota leader. She also helped operate a headquarters office
for the NAIG team through the Boys and Girls Club on the Fort Berthold
Reservation.
“I feel so overwhelmed sometimes,” said Pretends Eagle. “But the kids keep
me going. I want to see the look on their faces when they go through the
opening ceremonies.”
Henderson Nez of Mesa, Ariz., recruited four coaches and 41 wrestlers for
his team, including a national champion, six All-Americans and six females. He
volunteered to assist Team Arizona.
“Sure enough, they gave me the position of head coach,” said the
23-year-old former wrestler and certified wrestling coach.
Overall, the North American Indigenous Games are fairly new to U.S. tribal
athletes. The games originated in Canada and typically occur every three
years. The first and last games played in the United States were in 1995.
But through the Native American Sports Council, Smith decided to do the
nearly impossible when he and others put in a bid to bring the games to Colorado.
The group only had 16 months to organize. But Smith felt it was something
the sports council should tackle, given the United States' previous record.
The U.S. games were canceled in 1999 and 2005 when organizers failed to meet
their duties, said Joseph, NAIG president.
So far, the Colorado Indigenous Games Society has succeeded in organizing
the games. Everything is on schedule and thousands of athletes will soon be
arriving, Joseph said.
But the Colorado hosts still need to raise $1.9 million.
That's where U.S. teams are at a disadvantage from their Canadian
counterparts. Neither the state of Colorado nor the U.S. government, and for the most
part U.S. tribes, have made a financial contribution to the games. The city of
Denver, however, has made significant in-kind contributions, Joseph said.
On the other hand, hosts of the 2008 British Columbia games are already
assured of
$7 million, including money from the province and matching funds from the
Canadian government.
Joseph said the games typically cost $8 million to
$10 million.
The Ute tribes of Colorado have contributed more than
$1 million to support U.S. athletes.
“It's getting to crunch time,” Smith said. And there are still a lot of
tribal communities who aren't supporting their athletes. “I'm disappointed
because this is an opportunity for Indian Country to really hang their hat in
terms of sport and culture. This event will not come back until 2011.”
Still, he looks forward to the impending days of youth competition. “When
that first medal is awarded, it will all be worth it to see the smiles on their
faces,” he said.
Even though many U.S. tribal leaders have yet to step forward, scores of
grassroots people and youth organizations have taken giant strides to keep pace
with Canadian First Nations teams.
Team South Dakota leader Denise One Star said the state increased its
members from around 100 in the last games to close to 300 this year. South Dakota
coaches also cast a wide net to bring in the best athletes from reservations
around the state.
“This is really a Lakota Nation team,” One Star said. “We're going to be
bringing back some medals.”
Team North Dakota - which has 207 athletes - has also moved forward in
developing its team. Leaders there operate as a nonprofit organization with a
board of directors.
Coaches also organized tryouts.
“It's so competitive, we couldn't take some of our best golfers,” said
Jarret Baker, director of the Fort Berthold Reservation's Boys and Girls Club,
which has taken youth to three North American Indigenous Games.
Ken Hall, president of Team North Dakota, encourages tribal leaders and
program directors to support and encourage young athletes in the international
competition.
“It's where kids, cultures and families all come together and culminate the
spirit of the games, which is competition and camaraderie,” Hall said.
Dixon, a Hidatsa and Isletta Pueblo who led his North Dakota high school to
four state team titles, said he looks forward to this summer's games and his
journey for self-improvement.
It wasn't that long ago when he first started running - in sixth grade. “My
cousin talked me into practice with him one time,” he said. “Of course, I
finished last. But each day went on, and I got better and better.”
On the web: _www.naig2006.com_ (http://www.naig2006.com/)
Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at (406) 523-5299 or at _jodi.rave@lee.net_
(mailto:jodi.rave@lee.net)
_http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/06/11/jodirave/rave20.txt_
(http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/06/11/jodirave/rave20.txt)
Russell Dixon is about to compete against some of the best indigenous
athletes in North America, but the self-assured teenager isn't thinking about the
track and field competition.
“To me, I don't even race other people,” said Dixon. “I just go out and see
if I can push myself hard and take my body somewhere it hasn't been. If I
come out the winner, I come out the winner.”
It's a state of mind that has led the 18-year-old from the Fort Berthold
Reservation in North Dakota to six high school state championships in three
events, including cross country and the 1,500- and 3,200-meter races.
Dixon will test his athletic prowess once again July 2-8, during the North
American Indigenous Games in Denver, where approximately 7,100 Canadian and
U.S. athletes will compete before 50,000 spectators in 16 sporting events,
ranging from softball, boxing and swimming to running, archery and lacrosse.
The indigenous games focus on 13- to 18-year-old athletes. Each of the 34
teams registered could recruit as many as 500 teenagers.
Josh Moody of Warm Springs, Ore., will compete in a rifle competition. It
will be the first time he's ever competed with a .22 rifle, although he hunts
regularly. He shot his first buck on the Warm Springs Reservation when he was
11.
“I ceremonial hunt with my dad to get meat for the freezer and give some
meat to other relatives and elders,” he said.
Like Moody, many youths will arrive in Denver having never participated in
an international competition.
“The main complete purpose and the vision for the North American Indigenous
Games was to give the youth ... the opportunity to compete in mainstream
sport,” said Harold Joseph, NAIG national council president.
Otherwise, many talented Native athletes get overlooked in their schools and
miss the chance to compete in local, national and international
competitions, said Joseph. “How do you combat that? You create your own games for your
kids.”
Nearly half of the 1,161 tribes in Canada and the United States will be
represented at the games, including 23 U.S. teams and 11 Canadian. Adults -
anyone 19 and older - will also be competing as a single group in respective
competitions.
The Colorado Indigenous Games Society provided these preliminary
registration numbers: Team Saskatchewan, the largest team overall, will arrive with 690
athletes, 190 of them adult competitors. Team Nunavut, Canada's smallest
team, will arrive with 12 athletes.
The largest U.S. team hails from New Mexico, with 391 athletes. Team Montana
will arrive with 14 members, including Tuff Harris.
Harris, 23, a University of Montana football player, will join adult
athletes. The three-time state long-jump champion also set an all-class state record
in the 100 meters. Harris, who's Crow and Northern Cheyenne, has registered
for the long jump, 100- and 200-meter races.
“It's a prestigious event,” Harris said. “I feel pretty good. I gained a
little weight for football, but the speed's still there.”
Team Montana leader, Joey Jane of Arlee, stepped forward to assemble a
Montana team in January, after the previous “chef de mission” backed out. Jane
said athletes recently have been asking to join the team. But it's too late.
“She's done great with what little time she had,” said Maurice “Mo” Smith,
general manager for the Colorado Indigenous Games Society, who is also
spearheading the Denver games.
Like Jane, most everyone involved in helping organize a state team is a
volunteer.
“The paperwork keeps coming and coming and coming,” said Marva Pretends
Eagle, Team North Dakota leader. She also helped operate a headquarters office
for the NAIG team through the Boys and Girls Club on the Fort Berthold
Reservation.
“I feel so overwhelmed sometimes,” said Pretends Eagle. “But the kids keep
me going. I want to see the look on their faces when they go through the
opening ceremonies.”
Henderson Nez of Mesa, Ariz., recruited four coaches and 41 wrestlers for
his team, including a national champion, six All-Americans and six females. He
volunteered to assist Team Arizona.
“Sure enough, they gave me the position of head coach,” said the
23-year-old former wrestler and certified wrestling coach.
Overall, the North American Indigenous Games are fairly new to U.S. tribal
athletes. The games originated in Canada and typically occur every three
years. The first and last games played in the United States were in 1995.
But through the Native American Sports Council, Smith decided to do the
nearly impossible when he and others put in a bid to bring the games to Colorado.
The group only had 16 months to organize. But Smith felt it was something
the sports council should tackle, given the United States' previous record.
The U.S. games were canceled in 1999 and 2005 when organizers failed to meet
their duties, said Joseph, NAIG president.
So far, the Colorado Indigenous Games Society has succeeded in organizing
the games. Everything is on schedule and thousands of athletes will soon be
arriving, Joseph said.
But the Colorado hosts still need to raise $1.9 million.
That's where U.S. teams are at a disadvantage from their Canadian
counterparts. Neither the state of Colorado nor the U.S. government, and for the most
part U.S. tribes, have made a financial contribution to the games. The city of
Denver, however, has made significant in-kind contributions, Joseph said.
On the other hand, hosts of the 2008 British Columbia games are already
assured of
$7 million, including money from the province and matching funds from the
Canadian government.
Joseph said the games typically cost $8 million to
$10 million.
The Ute tribes of Colorado have contributed more than
$1 million to support U.S. athletes.
“It's getting to crunch time,” Smith said. And there are still a lot of
tribal communities who aren't supporting their athletes. “I'm disappointed
because this is an opportunity for Indian Country to really hang their hat in
terms of sport and culture. This event will not come back until 2011.”
Still, he looks forward to the impending days of youth competition. “When
that first medal is awarded, it will all be worth it to see the smiles on their
faces,” he said.
Even though many U.S. tribal leaders have yet to step forward, scores of
grassroots people and youth organizations have taken giant strides to keep pace
with Canadian First Nations teams.
Team South Dakota leader Denise One Star said the state increased its
members from around 100 in the last games to close to 300 this year. South Dakota
coaches also cast a wide net to bring in the best athletes from reservations
around the state.
“This is really a Lakota Nation team,” One Star said. “We're going to be
bringing back some medals.”
Team North Dakota - which has 207 athletes - has also moved forward in
developing its team. Leaders there operate as a nonprofit organization with a
board of directors.
Coaches also organized tryouts.
“It's so competitive, we couldn't take some of our best golfers,” said
Jarret Baker, director of the Fort Berthold Reservation's Boys and Girls Club,
which has taken youth to three North American Indigenous Games.
Ken Hall, president of Team North Dakota, encourages tribal leaders and
program directors to support and encourage young athletes in the international
competition.
“It's where kids, cultures and families all come together and culminate the
spirit of the games, which is competition and camaraderie,” Hall said.
Dixon, a Hidatsa and Isletta Pueblo who led his North Dakota high school to
four state team titles, said he looks forward to this summer's games and his
journey for self-improvement.
It wasn't that long ago when he first started running - in sixth grade. “My
cousin talked me into practice with him one time,” he said. “Of course, I
finished last. But each day went on, and I got better and better.”
On the web: _www.naig2006.com_ (http://www.naig2006.com/)
Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at (406) 523-5299 or at _jodi.rave@lee.net_
(mailto:jodi.rave@lee.net)
_http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/06/11/jodirave/rave20.txt_
(http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/06/11/jodirave/rave20.txt)