North American Indigenous Games 2008

by Ry Moran
August 3-11, 2008 in Cowichan, BC

My visit to the North American Indigenous Games was one of discovery, friendship and learning. I was very fortunate to be presented the opportunity to serve in a number of different roles at the Games. This kept me extremely busy during the course of the events.

The highlights of my time spent at the Games definitely surrounded the people I met and interacted with. As part of my role model duties, I made a number of presentations and speeches to the athletes competing at the games and found this to be very inspiring. It was an incredible sight to see so many young and vibrant aboriginal youth together from across the country.

I also was deeply appreciative of the time spent with my fellow role models. Robert and I made a medal presentation together and it was excellent having the opportunity to listen to his compelling talk. He clearly is a gifted speaker. We all got together a number of times and it was really great hearing all their stories and backgrounds.

Towards the end of the games, we had a number of the role models back to our house for dinner. After a nice meal, we discussed where each other was from.

Canada is such a huge country that it can be difficult to imagine where all of these communities are. This ended up turning into a really interesting experience as each from the living room at my place. Using Google Earth, we were able to zoom right into each persons communities and see exactly where they lived. We calculated that the furthest distance between any two role models was over 7200 kms! Just goes to show what a huge country Canada is!

The North American Indigenous Games truly were a great experience. The spirit and energy of the athletes, organizers and volunteers was amazing. It was an experience that inspired me greatly and I hope that in so doing, I was able to inspire those that I came in contact with.

I am deeply thankful for having the opportunity to attend.

For more on NAHO and NARMP participation in NAIG visit the blog Journeys for Health.