Post by Okwes on Jul 2, 2006 16:20:26 GMT -5
Pride the real winner at Indigenous Games
Posted by: "Victoria" bayareauk@yahoo.co.uk bayareauk
Sun Jul 2, 2006 12:39 am (PST)
Pride the real winner at Indigenous Games
www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_48153\
46,00.html
<http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4815\
346,00.html> American Indians to gather for sports, sense of community
[http://mas.scripps.com/DRMN/2006/07/01/433654330-_o.jpg] Evan Semon
� News
CELEBRATION OF CULTURE / The Tall Bull family - Richard, 44; Brooke, 35;
and Arlene, 12 - will compete in the 2006 North American Indigenous
Games that start with opening ceremonies Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile
High. Brooke and Arlene will compete in swimming and Richard in golf.
STORY TOOLS Email this story | Print By James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain
News
July 1, 2006 When Arlene Tall Bull was 9 years old, she asked her mother
why there weren't any other kids who were like her.
Certainly Arlene Tall Bull was not the only child to be puzzled, to
wonder why wherever she looked - school, swimming classes, her Lone Tree
neighborhood - there were no other American Indians to be seen, no brown
boys and girls, nobody who seemed to share her Cheyenne and Menominee
blood.
Even her mother's assurances that she was not the only American Indian
child in the world may not have completely convinced her and removed the
aura of confusion and isolation she felt.
On Sunday, whatever remains of Arlene Tall Bull's confusion will likely
vanish in a cloud of pageantry and community. That's when - and it's
coincidentally on her 13th birthday - the last vestiges of her doubts,
her differentness, will be blown far away in four directions by the four
winds that will symbolize and usher in the 2006 North American
Indigenous Games, a weeklong celebration of pride, culture and - just as
important - fierce athletic competition.
'Really proud'
Some 7,000 athletes from 23 states and 11 Canadian provinces will parade
into Invesco Field at Mile High in an opening ceremony that promises to
be rich with lore and color. And among those athletes will be Arlene
Tall Bull, a bantam group swimmer - and her mother, Brooke, a senior
swimmer, and her father Richard, a senior golfer - athletes all,
representing Colorado.
It will be a moment, says Brooke that, for her, will hover between
"spectacular" and "awesome," an experience that "will make me really
proud."
For Harry Cage, the opening ceremonies will likely find him colliding
with his emotions.
"I'm sure I'm probably going to get a little choked up," says the
53-year-old Indian from Arvada, a member of the Potawatomi and Ojibway
tribes who will compete in tae-kwon-do, along with his 18-year-old son,
Donovan.
"Nothing is going to make me prouder than to stand next to my boy as we
walk out onto the field and look up in the crowd," says Cage, who
despite having his ankle encased in a cast in the weeks preceding the
competition - and despite the fact that, "Chances are, there's not going
to be anybody older or fatter than me" - will be ready to compete.
So will the other athletes, who range in age from 13 to fiftysomething;
boys and girls and men and women who will compete in 16 different sports
at venues sprinkled across the Denver area and south to Colorado
Springs.
'Serve as role models'
Some will come determined to win, carrying the same drive that Darrell
Roberts did 11 years ago, when he competed at the North American
Indigenous Games in Blaine, Minn., the first - and only other - time the
games have been held outside of Canada.
Roberts took second in the 10,000 meters, not a tremendous surprise
considering he had been a standout runner at Denver South High School as
a prep athlete. But this time, things are different for Roberts, 37, a
Navajo and a Mesquaki.
Today, he works in student development at Fort Lewis College in Durango,
and coaches and mentors young adults. Today, he hopes the athletes -
including himself - "can serve as role models."
"Hopefully, we show Indian boys and girls across the country that even
if you're from a reservation, you can succeed; you can go on to college,
to a new environment and attain what you need to get ahead," Roberts
said.
Today, too, for him, the games are less about winning than serving as a
"a chance for us to gather as a people, to form a community."
Cage couldn't agree more.
"It has been so long since this many Native Americans gathered in one
spot just to be in community with each other, to experience their
Indian-ness, their diversity," he says. "The last time we had this many
Indians together, we were making war."
As far as Richard Tall Bull, 44, is concerned, there is still a war to
be fought at the games, the war against prejudice and small-mindedness.
"Come on," says the owner of his own construction firm, "you know that a
lot of people think Indians are different. We all live on reservations,
not doing much. We're all lazy; we're alcoholics.
"Well, this will showcase us," he says, pride swirling up his voice. "It
will show that Native Americans are athletes, we compete, we have
dedication, we do everything that everybody else does."
Cage calls the youngsters who will compete "Native Americans' best and
brightest." He says their character and competitiveness "will show
people in Colorado and across the country who Indians are."
And one of the things they are, insists Cage, is "different from each
other, too. A lot of people in America think an Indian is an Indian.
That's wrong. American Indians are just as diverse as the dominant
society."
$2 million invested
The fact that the North American Indigenous Games are in Colorado is
largely because of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes, whose
leaders have invested $2 million to host the games. Richard Tall Bull,
for one, is glad they did.
"Yeah, I love that the games are here," he says. "We'll be able to
showcase our state, to show it's the best place in the world."
After a pause, he adds: "You know, for the Cheyenne, this is our land;
we don't have a reservation. Maybe we don't own it anymore, but it's our
land."
Not that playing host means being too polite.
"I look at this as the Native American Olympics," says Richard,
insisting that, above all, "It's about competition. For me, I want to
see where I stand against other Native Americans. I never see too many
Indian golfers. Who knows? Maybe they're all worse than me, and I could
win."
Neither is his wife any less ready.
"I'm excited to start," says Brooke, 37. "This isn't going to be just
another powwow - it's a competition."
Moreover, Brooke who - like her daughter - has not had much occasion to
swim against other American Indians at meets, is eager to take on that
competition. At least certain members of it.
"I'm not going to name any tribes," she says, smiling mischievously,
"but there are definitely some I want to swim against and kick some
butt."
Whether the North American Indigenous Games are best defined by winning,
competing or, as Roberts insists, "cultural pride," they may also be
about discovery.
Asked what she thinks it will feel like to stand on at the edge of the
pool and look to her left and right and see other swimmers who are just
as Indian as she, Arlene Tall Bull thinks for a long moment, her face
becoming a serious mask, and says, "Pretty scary."
Then, another thought percolates to the surface, and with a shy smile,
she adds, "But pretty fun, too. There'll be kids like me."
Let the games begin.
Posted by: "Victoria" bayareauk@yahoo.co.uk bayareauk
Sun Jul 2, 2006 12:39 am (PST)
Pride the real winner at Indigenous Games
www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_48153\
46,00.html
<http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4815\
346,00.html> American Indians to gather for sports, sense of community
[http://mas.scripps.com/DRMN/2006/07/01/433654330-_o.jpg] Evan Semon
� News
CELEBRATION OF CULTURE / The Tall Bull family - Richard, 44; Brooke, 35;
and Arlene, 12 - will compete in the 2006 North American Indigenous
Games that start with opening ceremonies Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile
High. Brooke and Arlene will compete in swimming and Richard in golf.
STORY TOOLS Email this story | Print By James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain
News
July 1, 2006 When Arlene Tall Bull was 9 years old, she asked her mother
why there weren't any other kids who were like her.
Certainly Arlene Tall Bull was not the only child to be puzzled, to
wonder why wherever she looked - school, swimming classes, her Lone Tree
neighborhood - there were no other American Indians to be seen, no brown
boys and girls, nobody who seemed to share her Cheyenne and Menominee
blood.
Even her mother's assurances that she was not the only American Indian
child in the world may not have completely convinced her and removed the
aura of confusion and isolation she felt.
On Sunday, whatever remains of Arlene Tall Bull's confusion will likely
vanish in a cloud of pageantry and community. That's when - and it's
coincidentally on her 13th birthday - the last vestiges of her doubts,
her differentness, will be blown far away in four directions by the four
winds that will symbolize and usher in the 2006 North American
Indigenous Games, a weeklong celebration of pride, culture and - just as
important - fierce athletic competition.
'Really proud'
Some 7,000 athletes from 23 states and 11 Canadian provinces will parade
into Invesco Field at Mile High in an opening ceremony that promises to
be rich with lore and color. And among those athletes will be Arlene
Tall Bull, a bantam group swimmer - and her mother, Brooke, a senior
swimmer, and her father Richard, a senior golfer - athletes all,
representing Colorado.
It will be a moment, says Brooke that, for her, will hover between
"spectacular" and "awesome," an experience that "will make me really
proud."
For Harry Cage, the opening ceremonies will likely find him colliding
with his emotions.
"I'm sure I'm probably going to get a little choked up," says the
53-year-old Indian from Arvada, a member of the Potawatomi and Ojibway
tribes who will compete in tae-kwon-do, along with his 18-year-old son,
Donovan.
"Nothing is going to make me prouder than to stand next to my boy as we
walk out onto the field and look up in the crowd," says Cage, who
despite having his ankle encased in a cast in the weeks preceding the
competition - and despite the fact that, "Chances are, there's not going
to be anybody older or fatter than me" - will be ready to compete.
So will the other athletes, who range in age from 13 to fiftysomething;
boys and girls and men and women who will compete in 16 different sports
at venues sprinkled across the Denver area and south to Colorado
Springs.
'Serve as role models'
Some will come determined to win, carrying the same drive that Darrell
Roberts did 11 years ago, when he competed at the North American
Indigenous Games in Blaine, Minn., the first - and only other - time the
games have been held outside of Canada.
Roberts took second in the 10,000 meters, not a tremendous surprise
considering he had been a standout runner at Denver South High School as
a prep athlete. But this time, things are different for Roberts, 37, a
Navajo and a Mesquaki.
Today, he works in student development at Fort Lewis College in Durango,
and coaches and mentors young adults. Today, he hopes the athletes -
including himself - "can serve as role models."
"Hopefully, we show Indian boys and girls across the country that even
if you're from a reservation, you can succeed; you can go on to college,
to a new environment and attain what you need to get ahead," Roberts
said.
Today, too, for him, the games are less about winning than serving as a
"a chance for us to gather as a people, to form a community."
Cage couldn't agree more.
"It has been so long since this many Native Americans gathered in one
spot just to be in community with each other, to experience their
Indian-ness, their diversity," he says. "The last time we had this many
Indians together, we were making war."
As far as Richard Tall Bull, 44, is concerned, there is still a war to
be fought at the games, the war against prejudice and small-mindedness.
"Come on," says the owner of his own construction firm, "you know that a
lot of people think Indians are different. We all live on reservations,
not doing much. We're all lazy; we're alcoholics.
"Well, this will showcase us," he says, pride swirling up his voice. "It
will show that Native Americans are athletes, we compete, we have
dedication, we do everything that everybody else does."
Cage calls the youngsters who will compete "Native Americans' best and
brightest." He says their character and competitiveness "will show
people in Colorado and across the country who Indians are."
And one of the things they are, insists Cage, is "different from each
other, too. A lot of people in America think an Indian is an Indian.
That's wrong. American Indians are just as diverse as the dominant
society."
$2 million invested
The fact that the North American Indigenous Games are in Colorado is
largely because of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes, whose
leaders have invested $2 million to host the games. Richard Tall Bull,
for one, is glad they did.
"Yeah, I love that the games are here," he says. "We'll be able to
showcase our state, to show it's the best place in the world."
After a pause, he adds: "You know, for the Cheyenne, this is our land;
we don't have a reservation. Maybe we don't own it anymore, but it's our
land."
Not that playing host means being too polite.
"I look at this as the Native American Olympics," says Richard,
insisting that, above all, "It's about competition. For me, I want to
see where I stand against other Native Americans. I never see too many
Indian golfers. Who knows? Maybe they're all worse than me, and I could
win."
Neither is his wife any less ready.
"I'm excited to start," says Brooke, 37. "This isn't going to be just
another powwow - it's a competition."
Moreover, Brooke who - like her daughter - has not had much occasion to
swim against other American Indians at meets, is eager to take on that
competition. At least certain members of it.
"I'm not going to name any tribes," she says, smiling mischievously,
"but there are definitely some I want to swim against and kick some
butt."
Whether the North American Indigenous Games are best defined by winning,
competing or, as Roberts insists, "cultural pride," they may also be
about discovery.
Asked what she thinks it will feel like to stand on at the edge of the
pool and look to her left and right and see other swimmers who are just
as Indian as she, Arlene Tall Bull thinks for a long moment, her face
becoming a serious mask, and says, "Pretty scary."
Then, another thought percolates to the surface, and with a shy smile,
she adds, "But pretty fun, too. There'll be kids like me."
Let the games begin.