The North American Indigenous Games are coming to Halifax

The largest sporting event Maritime Canada has ever seen will bring 5,000 youth athletes to the city of Halifax in Nova Scotia.

In July - just a few months away - thousands of youth from across North America will be in Halifax, celebrating the largest sporting event the Maritimes has ever seen since European contact.

• Five thousand athletes.
• 756 Indigenous nations.
• 16 sports.
• 21 venues
• 3,000 volunteers.

The athletes will compete, celebrate and share their culture from July 12 to 18 for the North American Indigenous Games.

A serious undertaking by any standards, but a worthy one, says Savvy Simon, who calls the games "the Olympics for Indigenous people."

"Youth from across Turtle Island all get together in one place and make friendships and have fun and really build bonds from across North America, Turtle Island," says Simon.

Simon is a North American Indigenous Games alumni, who competed in volleyball at the Winnipeg games in 2002 and softball at the Denver, Colorado games in 2006, for her home province of New Brunswick. But for these games, as a seven-year resident of Halifax and representative of K'jipuktuk she's working as NAIG's social media ambassador and a volunteer.

Her experience with NAIG was so formative, she wants to give that same "pleasant and joyful experience to other youth."

One of the most memorable parts of the games Simon participated in was getting to "experience the culture of other natives" in the off times, she says. Competing alongside teammates from your province also creates a unique experience, says Simon, because it brings together Indigenous youth from across their own province who otherwise wouldn't have met. And "representing your your community and your tribe," says Simon, gives "so much pride and so much self-esteem and confidence boosting for the youth."

"There's a lot of pain being a native person in Canada and in USA," says Simon. So being able to come together with so many like-minded people has a huge impact on the joy and happiness of the youth—in feeling like "we're together and we're community and we're not alone in our day-to-days...working towards our own healing."

The last games were hosted in Toronto in 2017—and team British Columbia took home the overall win. At these games, athletes will compete in canoe and kayak on Lake Banook, athletics at Beazley Field in Dartmouth and Point Pleasant Park, softball in the Halifax Common, wrestling at SMU, volleyball at the Canada Games Centre, swimming at the Dalplex, Archery at the Millbrook Archery Facility and baseball, golf, badminton, soccer, beach volleyball, basketball, lacrosse and shooting in other venues all over HRM.

The event organizers are hoping to get 3,000 volunteers for the games. Anyone over the age of 14 can sign up to help with food services, media, communications, medical, IT support and more. The games also has open applications for volunteer lead positions up on its website.

And, the biggest challenge the Indigenous games may face? Simon's guess is as good as any: parking.

For her it matters that non-Indigenous people celebrate the games, cheer on athletes and share in what is sure to be one heck of an event. "That's how we're going to collectively work together to eliminate racism."

At the volunteer launch at Halifax City Hall on Friday there will be speakers, honoured guests, cultural performances and snacks.

Cape Breton archery range is popular with tourists and locals

Traditional archery is a new hot business along the Cabot Trail, and both tourists and locals are loving it.

Highland Bow and Arrow, located in Skir Dhu which is close to Wreck Cove in Victoria County, was opened by Jay Rawding in June 2017. Originally from East Preston, Rawding moved to Cape Breton in 2014 and had targets set up at two of the homes she lived in.

A lover of archery, Rawding said she welcomed friends who wanted to visit and try shooting arrows. Then friends of friends started stopping by and she realized there was a big interest in the sport.

That inspired her to open Highland Bow and Arrow, an outdoor archery range where she offers lessons, range shooting and trail shooting along a one kilometre path in the woods with 3D targets like deer, zombies and dinosaurs.

Lessons are available for first-timers and frequent shooters, and people who have been there at least once before get a reduced rate.

Business has been growing quickly over the past two years, and Rawding believes part of the reason is that people want to be in nature.

“People are really desperate to unplug from technology and be in nature. When you are doing archery, you are also tapping into an intuitive aspect of yourself,” said Rawding, who has been shooting for six years.

The trail is one of Rawding’s favourite parts of her business because it’s the type of shooting that most people can only experience if they are part of a club. And she loves connecting with new shooters and watching them fall in love with the sport.

“There are about 40 people who have become full on archers … competing in competitions or embracing the culture,” she said. “One girl I shot with this summer just won silver at the Mi’kmaq summer games (in Eskasoni).”

That girl was Brittany Denny and she learned how to shoot from Rawding. On the Highland Bow and Arrow Facebook page, there are a number of reviews praising Rawding for her teaching, and there were similar thoughts from shooters on the range.

Keri Coulson of Truro was there with her husband Paul Coulson. The couple saw the sign and immediately pulled in because Paul wanted to try it. Keri wasn’t going to because as a kid she spent three summers at archery camp and never hit a target. After her lesson with Rawding, she was landing most shots.

“Turns out they were telling me to shoot with my wrong hand. Jay fixed that right away,” she said.

Tiia Finkle from Halifax and her daughters Sarah, 12, and Hannah, 10, were also there, having found Highland Bow and Arrow online while doing vacation research.

“I feel like Katniss (from Hunger Games),” joked Hannah. “A bit like her but I may not be hitting anything … I might not be getting any of those wild turkeys.”

Rawding has also started a group just for women, called Lady Archers.

When she was starting in archery, a male dominated sport, Rawding said she would sometimes be “brushed aside” by men at clubs or ranges because she was a woman. She thought a ladies only archery club would be a good way to overcome that.

“These women walk in and they’re so amazing but they haven’t tapped into their badassness yet,” she said. “I will be that ballsy woman who will stand up and make it not intimidating for woman … that’s a major goal of mine.”

Horse Archery Training Camp in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Kassai Horseback Archery Camp 2018

Hosted by Seawinds Horse Archers

Seawinds Horse Archers Sports Club
8 Old Baxters Mill Rd, Canning, Nova Scotia B0P 1H0

(902) 670-0860

lance@wildmountain.ca

Details:

Awaken your inner warrior! Join us as Master Hungarian Lajos Kassai comes to Nova Scotia to introduce this martial art and sport to Canada’s East Coast.

Learn an introduction to the Kassai shooting technique, equestrian foundations for this style of mounted archery, and how the Master runs his school and competitions.

Come for one day, two days, or a full camp. Or come just to observe a profound event on a beautiful seaside farm.

Participants are encouraged to camp as a group with minimal amenities in nomad fashion in the pretty seaside pastures at Wild Mountain Farm.

Live music and local delicious meals to celebrate our training and restore our aching (hopefully not broken) bodies each night!

Schedule:

Day 1 Focus: The Bow. Presenting the dynamic Kassai fast-shooting technique proven to work on the back of a cantering horse when there’s “no time to think, just shoot”.

Day 2 Focus: The Horse. Introducing the natural horsemanship concepts the Master uses on the ground to nourish the fundamental partnership for when the horse archer must let go of the rein to shoot.

Day 3 Focus: The Horse and the Bow. The Master details his unique nuances from bareback basics to finding the standing rhythm in the stirrups of the Hungarian saddle, essential to incorporate the living horse below the waist.

Day 4: The Competition. The Kassai Competition benchmarks how far a student has come. We will hold an official Kassai competition if we can attract a minimum of 9 riders who have proven they can shoot very well from the canter. Most of us will be fortunate observers this year! We believe we can do this, but if we are ahead of our time for this in Nova Scotia, this day will focus on more training and helping individuals develop their own personal training routines appropriate for continuing their journeys!

For questions, registrations, and equipment orders/guidance:

Contact Lance Bishop by email lance@wildmountain.ca. Maximum 30 daily participants and 60 observers on training days. Participants $120 CA/day, Observers $30 per day, family, volunteer, and full camp discounts. If there is interest, children’s nature exploration day camps will be run on the farm during training sessions for those who want to bring hiking-age little ones, compliments of Wild Roots Nature Education Center. This can be a family experience!

Note - If I wasn't so busy I would totally sign up for this. $120 per day is totally reasonable. But since I cannot go, I feel no reason I should not be passing on this information to my fellow archers.