Countdown is on to North American Indigenous Games in Nova Scotia

The countdown is on to the North American Indigenous Games being hosted in Nova Scotia after nearly three years of delays.

From July 15-23, Halifax, Dartmouth and Millbrook First Nation will welcome 5,250 athletes from nearly 760 Indigenous communities, as they compete in 16 sports.

Fiona Kirkpatrick Parsons, who is Woodland Cree from Lac La Ronge First Nation in northern Saskatchewan, is the chair and federal representative for the 2023 North American Indigenous Games.

Kirkpatrick Parsons spoke with Mainstreet host Jeff Douglas Tuesday about the upcoming Games.

Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How excited is everyone to get these athletes here and get the Games underway?

I am so excited. We will have actually 5,250 participants — we've confirmed that number — and that's youth from all across Turtle Island, from California, Florida to the Yukon, Nunatsiavut and all parts in between.

How have you managed to keep your board, the venues and organizers motivated?

It's our passion. It's our passion for the youth who are coming. We were ready in 2020. We were so ready and then we all got that news in mid, late March of 2020 and we had to make a decision. Obviously, it was the right decision to postpone the Games, clearly, and there wasn't much choice in that matter.

It was probably the most devastating and difficult moment we've had, but we knew in our hearts it would happen and we just kept persevering and we had a lot of, as they say, pivoting to do in the meantime. Now that we've had a little bit of extra time, even though we were ready, we've really built up huge momentum and we'll have an even bigger and better Games than we were going to have in 2020.

These Games are obviously going to be a showcase of some amazing athleticism, but there are also some great opportunities for cultural experiences. Can we talk a bit about that?

Absolutely. We want everybody to come and experience not only the sporting aspect but also, we're shooting for a 50-50 sporting and cultural experience so there'll be lots to see and do. Culture will be baked into all of the sports, so our medal ceremonies and so on will have that, or opening ceremonies for each of the sports. 

But down at the Halifax Common will be the kind of focal point for our cultural aspects, where there will be everything you can imagine. The main focus will be on Mi'kmaw culture because this is the host culture, but there will be cultures represented from all across Turtle Island, from the merchants that will be there to the performances that will be on the stages. You will see all kinds of beautiful sights and sounds. Foods, music, art — the whole gamut.

You had me at food. That all sounds fascinating.

It's going to be the biggest powwow, the biggest mawiomi, I think this region has ever seen. It is the biggest multi-sport and cultural gathering ever held in Atlantic Canada since contact, so it's truly going to be an historic event, and we can't wait to host it.

What kind of opportunity does this bring to this region, this city?

I know a lot of people who have actually never been to a cultural gathering of Indigenous peoples before, and so this is really, truly an opportunity you don't want to miss. To feel welcome, you know, we want everybody to feel that they can come and enjoy this event and support these yet beautiful young people that are coming.

They're aged 13 to 19, and honestly, so many of them have never been away from home, never been on a plane or outside of their communities in many cases, and so what I'm hoping, what we as a board want, is to create an atmosphere of truly welcoming these young people as though they are our own.

I want them to feel like they're at home for a week, only they're here in Kjipuktuk (Halifax) and Millbrook First Nation. I want them to feel comfortable and try not to be too homesick because it's a week away and we know that some of them are going to be a little bit nervous.

But we're going to be creating safe spaces for them, where they can sit and relax and feel recharged spiritually and emotionally. We'll have elders, we'll have lots of gathering spaces for them, so yeah, I want everybody to feel like they're welcome.

Just keep an eye on our website. We will have lots and lots of updates as the days tick by. We have 165 days left, but who's counting? I've been told not to count, but I get excited when I count down.

How much of this is going be volunteer-fuelled?

Very much so. We are looking for 3,000 volunteers. Great news is, we are very much on track. We have 1,500 already and so we were just kicking off our second phase of our volunteer campaign and really it's going to be an unprecedented opportunity to be part of this historic event.

We provide cultural awareness training for our volunteers, role-specific training, you also get volunteer swag, but you do have to sign up and all you have to be is at least 14 years of age. 

Just go sign up on our website, takes about 10 minutes and you can sort of pick and choose the areas that you're interested in. We'll try to match you up with your skills and interests and it'll be the experience of a lifetime.

And folks who are volunteering will have free access to transit during the Games?

Yes. All free. Really, we tried to remove those barriers as much as we possibly can, and really these Games are for everyone, so we want people to feel like no matter your abilities or your age, as long as you're 14 and up, that we have a role for you if you want to come and join us.

You don't want to miss it.