First of all – I’m a comedian. Do NOT read this for an academic take on the socio-political impacts of the blah blah blah – cuz I can’t do that/write that/say that for I am far too “unlearned” to fake it. So, I won’t. With that said, here’s my take on what’s shaking out with the Olympics here in Canada and how I see it.
Where do I start with this blog post? I could start with how “inclusionary” the Opening Ceremonies were, we could talk about the protests and the general temperature of those “on the outside” of the games, but I suppose I should start at the beginning – in July 2003 the 2010 Winter Olympics were awarded to Vancouver.
Canada celebrated, South Korea and Austria didn’t, and construction began. Problems with construction, funding and planning persisted throughout the times leading up to the games. Almost immediately, the talk of how the games would affect the land/resources where the building was being done, started, and further to that – a long discussion about how the host city would hide it’s “problems” began. Vancouver’s lower East side is known to be as rough as it gets, and while some money was spent on “programs and services” for these folks, displacing them seems to be the answer VANOC, the city of Vancouver, and moreover – Canada, seemed to go with. My thoughts and prayers are were with them during the “big fireworks show” and continue to be with them after the world leaves – will they all make there way back to their familiar digs in the East side of Vancouver? I hope so, home is home.
Fast forward to the Opening Ceremonies – an impressive show for sure. We saw our beautiful people from across Indian Country dancing their styles, we heard Round Dance music, we saw the faces of guests from around the world that saw our people in celebration mode – in pure awe – athletes and people in the arena blown away by our beauty. A small victory for sure. We showed our beauty. We are beautiful peoples. We always knew this.
AND.
Who doesn’t like:
- CG’d Whales;
- Modern Dance;
- canned music performances;
- Ashlee Macisaac holding it down on the fiddle;
- Shane Koyczan (he’s got a French mother and an Aboriginal father), “Zed not Zee”, maybe done 10 years earlier by the “I AM CANADIAN” guy, gets a pass because he’s moved a mountain by igniting debates about “what being Canadian means;”
- failed hydraulics and;
- Gretzky riding in the back of a pick up in the pouring rain and struggling to catch his breath from his run.
Pure Canadiana – Pure Awesome.
The argument I’ve been hearing is that with the “inclusion” of First Nations in the games marks the NEW start to a world wide relationship with us as Aboriginal Peoples living in Canada. The term “unprecedented involvement” has been thrown around quite a bit and I wonder what that means exactly? Are we involved because we danced in the Opening? Are we involved because there is an Aboriginal pavilion at the games where “the world” can see us perform, sing, dance, rap, etc.? Are we involved because we had to be because the Games were taking place whether we liked it or not and to be “a part” of it made more sense than not; at least we get to represent ourselves right?
To me, Canada had a chance to REALLY change the way the world sees “US” and how THEY (Canada) sees “US.” I can’t help but go back to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and how Canada has participated in adopting (actually, NOT adopting) it. Currently 143 countries have signed it and 4 haven’t. The countries that haven’t signed are Canada, the US, New Zealand and Australia. Australia has recently signed and New Zealand and the US are currently said to be close to signing. That leaves Canada. To show TRUE appreciation for it’s Aboriginal Peoples and while on the world stage – could Canada have done more to let people know where they stand? Should they have? I mean, we did get to “dance” at the Olympics, but shouldn’t we ask for more?
The Olympics hold athletes to higher standards, a higher moral ground based on fairness and exceptional standards for it’s Olympic competitors. If our country can’t hold itself to these types of standards, higher moral grounds – how can we host the games?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Now, as a huge fan of all sports, I am one of the biggest Olympic lovers and the welcome at opening ceremony was a beautiful thing to see. However, I also think it is important to not only see Aboriginal people as traditional dancers and performers, but as athletes and flagbearers, coaches and officials, tourists and sports fans. It’s step one, we all know there is a ways to go.
I have been debating whether it was a front to pose as a cultured society or a sincere gesture to honour Aboriginal culture. I do not wish to discredit Canada’s strives for a celebrated diverse country, but where has so much Aboriginal imagery represented Canada before Friday? For myself, I want to know if this involvement will continue after Vancouver 2010 has wrapped up. Will Aboriginal People have some steering power to help change the face of Canada? Perhaps more Aboriginal imagery is needed to reconstruct Canada’s image on home soil and abroad. Since Vancouver 2010 has represented Canada’s culture so well, why shouldn’t our government do the same? We all need continuity. I would like to congratulate the organizers of Vancouver 2010 for their social good for involving Aboriginal culture as the main image. Let us all hope that this is a popular belief among Canadians nationwide
Thanks for reading D & Aaron.
D: I agree that we have taken step 1 of many that we need to take.
Aaron: It is an interesting point you make about the larger population and their thoughs on the opening ceremonies. From what I’ve gathered, many people were moved by the opening. I think the danger COULD BE that we have romanticized ourselves the same way Dances With Wolves did. There was little context to the regalia worn, songs sung, etc. and I think that may be dangerous.
Thank you both for your thoughtful comments.
I am Cree from Alberta. I thought the Native Dance was cool but overall the Opening Ceremony was a flop which I don’t care since they outsource dNative Art to China and ripped us off.. The Oh Canada was horrible, One of the torches failed to rise. Someone got slammed into a pole at the bobsled track and died. And Wayne Gretsky had no Canopy on that truck to keep dry and warm. In the end everyone got ultimiately shat on from “Natives to Wayne Gretzky”