Masters Indigenous Games wrap up Sunday at Lansdowne
Apart from Canada, Mexico and New Zealand, participants at this year's Games also came from the U.S. and Greenland. Events held throughout the city included golf (Loch March), volleyball (TD Place Arena), track and field (Terry Fox Sports Facility), basketball (Carleton University), Arctic sports (Algonquin College) and 3D archery (Spencerville). Additionally, a small 'Cultural Village' at Lansdowne invited the public to enjoy displays of music and dance, and peruse sponsors' wares.
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This year's Games began on Thursday and ran until Sunday.
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'MIG is an opportunity to bring Indigenous people together,' said Danielle Johnson, a manager with Indigenous Sport & Wellness Ontario, which organizes the Games.
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'Sport and movement is medicine,' she added. 'This gives us time to heal together, come together and talk. It's more than just sport.'
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The exchange of culture was why Mexico City's Jorge Hernandez, who is not Indigenous, came to Ottawa with the rest of that country's contingent of athletes, coaches and trainers. Hernandez gave a demonstration of juego de pelota (translation: ballgame), a millennia-old Mayan and Aztec game in which players bounce a heavy rubber ball, almost as large as a soccer ball, with their legs, feet and, notably, hips. The game has been enjoying a revival in Mexico in the last couple of decades, and it's the hope of Hernandez and others that it, too, might catch on with Indigenous groups outside of Mexico and become a mainstay at the Masters Games.
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'I would love to show Canadians the ballgame because it's so important to my culture,' Hernandez said, also through a translator.
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That exchange of cultures was also part of what drove friends and volleyball teammates Koral Spencer-Tebiscon, Trevor Sealhunter and Jerrell Horse-Sam to make the 16-hour drive, along with Spencer-Tebiscon's mother, Rhonda Spencer, from their home in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi — 'as far north in Quebec as the road goes,' according to Spencer-Tebiscon — to compete at MIG. The three athletes held fundraisers in their community to help with expenses.
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'I had so much fun,' said Spencer-Tebiscon. 'Where we're from, everything that we do is regional, and we're self-taught. We get very good game play there, but there's only so far you can go. So having these events is a great experience, and very eye-opening.
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'When you're from a small community, it's really easy to feel that that is your world and that's all you can achieve or that's all you can meet. So it's really nice to see other communities and reach out and find that camaraderie, to be able to make new friendships and understand different indigenous cultures.'
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CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
Masters Indigenous Games wraps up in Ottawa
The Masters Indigenous Games wraps up in Ottawa following a successful weekend on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025 (Josh Marano/ CTV News Ottawa) Ottawa played host this past weekend to the second edition of the Masters Indigenous Games. Held at Lansdowne Park, the event highlighted the resilience, pride and heritage of Indigenous communities while giving athletes a chance to compete at the highest level. For volleyball athletes Mariah Altiman, representing Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, and Reese Peltier, representing Wikwemikong First Nation, the competition was intense but the weekend was about much more than scores. 'We're from around here, well I am,' Altiman said. 'I don't really get to meet people from up north and just connecting and making those cultural exchanges is nice.' Ottawa welcomed dozens of Indigenous athletes from around the world to compete in sports like volleyball, basketball and archery. Executive board member for the Masters Indigenous Games, Danielle Johnson, says while they had less games this year compared to 2023, it meant more athletes could compete in different sports. 'We have athletes from Greenland, from Alaska, from New Zealand, from Mexico, just all over,' Johnson said. 'It's just a great opportunity for them to come and that's probably the biggest difference is that we have the countries representing themselves.' The Cultural Village, set up in Lansdowne Park, offered artisan booths, traditional foods and live performances, culminating in the Reconciliation Walk/Run, a final showing of unity. 'Athletes are encouraging each other and supporting each other,' Johnson adds. 'It's really nice to see them together, just cheering on each other because it's a really good experience.' Looking ahead, Johnson says they hope to expand the event to see even more countries represented. 'I would like to see in the future for it to be the World Master Indigenous Games. Indigenous people across the world, across the globe, not just some from Turtle Island here, but come together and share an opportunity of sports and use that as a healing modality,' Johnson said.
Ottawa Citizen
13 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Masters Indigenous Games wrap up Sunday at Lansdowne
Article content Apart from Canada, Mexico and New Zealand, participants at this year's Games also came from the U.S. and Greenland. Events held throughout the city included golf (Loch March), volleyball (TD Place Arena), track and field (Terry Fox Sports Facility), basketball (Carleton University), Arctic sports (Algonquin College) and 3D archery (Spencerville). Additionally, a small 'Cultural Village' at Lansdowne invited the public to enjoy displays of music and dance, and peruse sponsors' wares. Article content Article content This year's Games began on Thursday and ran until Sunday. Article content 'MIG is an opportunity to bring Indigenous people together,' said Danielle Johnson, a manager with Indigenous Sport & Wellness Ontario, which organizes the Games. Article content 'Sport and movement is medicine,' she added. 'This gives us time to heal together, come together and talk. It's more than just sport.' Article content Article content The exchange of culture was why Mexico City's Jorge Hernandez, who is not Indigenous, came to Ottawa with the rest of that country's contingent of athletes, coaches and trainers. Hernandez gave a demonstration of juego de pelota (translation: ballgame), a millennia-old Mayan and Aztec game in which players bounce a heavy rubber ball, almost as large as a soccer ball, with their legs, feet and, notably, hips. The game has been enjoying a revival in Mexico in the last couple of decades, and it's the hope of Hernandez and others that it, too, might catch on with Indigenous groups outside of Mexico and become a mainstay at the Masters Games. Article content 'I would love to show Canadians the ballgame because it's so important to my culture,' Hernandez said, also through a translator. Article content That exchange of cultures was also part of what drove friends and volleyball teammates Koral Spencer-Tebiscon, Trevor Sealhunter and Jerrell Horse-Sam to make the 16-hour drive, along with Spencer-Tebiscon's mother, Rhonda Spencer, from their home in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi — 'as far north in Quebec as the road goes,' according to Spencer-Tebiscon — to compete at MIG. The three athletes held fundraisers in their community to help with expenses. Article content 'I had so much fun,' said Spencer-Tebiscon. 'Where we're from, everything that we do is regional, and we're self-taught. We get very good game play there, but there's only so far you can go. So having these events is a great experience, and very eye-opening. Article content 'When you're from a small community, it's really easy to feel that that is your world and that's all you can achieve or that's all you can meet. So it's really nice to see other communities and reach out and find that camaraderie, to be able to make new friendships and understand different indigenous cultures.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
CBC
13 hours ago
- CBC
The Trading Economy
Nfld. & Labrador Pin trading is the currency of the Canada Games, and these athletes are hooked Alex Kennedy Aug. 17, 2025 Athletes at the Canada Summer Games in St. John's are competing in 19 sports. But there's also the unofficial 20th sport that has the eyes of many — pin trading. Leah Quinlan and Sarah Baker, rugby sevens players representing Newfoundland and Labrador, were quick to get in on the craze. "We go pin trading a lot. Every night before bed we go out. And we just stand waiting for someone to come up to us,' Quinlan told CBC News on Wednesday. 'If you stand, the amount of people [who] come up to you asking for pins is crazy.' Pins can come from just about anywhere around the running of the event. There's designs for sale at venues. Canada Games organizers and community sponsors often have their own. And athletes are given a set of specially designed pins from their home province. Trading often happens fast and furious, with staff having to tell athletes not to get rid of all of their pins at once. Most provinces also include a set of pins — usually a duo or trio — that are tied to a theme or create a larger picture when connected. For example, Team Yukon has two pins at this year's event that form the shape of the territory when put together. Quinlan said each of the home province's special pins, a puffin and two dogs for Newfoundland and Labrador, are in high demand. "Multiple people will be like 'I'll give you these five pins for this dog.' But I'm very protective over my pins, and I love my dogs and my puffin. So I found it really hard to trade them,' she said. Other collectors operate with the goal of trying to collect one pin from every province and territory. Some are harder to find than others, given the pool of athletes from each region varies greatly. That makes territories like Nunavut or Yukon harder to find, and often makes negotiations extra important when you find a pin you're looking for. "They're also hagglers, because they know how important their pins are,' said Gemma Ogoke, a rugby player from Alberta. 'They're like 'give me three for one,' and I'm like 'No, please!' But then I got a one for one trade because I got the Newfoundland puffin. And he really wanted it, so it was awesome." 'Best part of the Games' And it isn't just the athletes who get involved. Lynne Kozina, a volunteer who came to experience the event from Toronto, has been pin trading at sporting events around the world for a decade. She's eager to trade with anyone, and has also picked up the lessons of proper pin etiquette along the way. "If you want to be considered a pin trader, make sure you wear one, at least one, on your lanyard, because that's the signal to other pin traders that it's ok to approach you and ask for pins,' she said. Kozina has even been able to design official pins in the past, and was the inspiration behind a pin given to Canadian volunteers at the Paris Olympics in 2024. "When you're not an athlete, it's hard, you know, to get an equivalent pin, you know, for trading. So I designed a pin and had it made by The Pin People that was a Canadian volunteer Paris 2024 pin,' she said. 'The athletes loved it, so I was able to do some good trades in Paris.' Luke Sherriffs, volunteering as a venue coordinator, has been a pin trader since his first Canada Games in 2011. "I was in the village day one during the moving day, so I was able to meet a lot of the athletes and trade a couple of pins that I had from past Games,' he said. 'It's got to be the best part of the Games other than the competition, of course." WATCH: The CBC's Alex Kennedy dives into trading at the Canada Games: Athletes at the Canada Summer Games in St. John's are competing in 19 sports. But there's also the unofficial 20th sport that has the eyes of many — pin trading. The CBC's Alex Kennedy takes us inside the game within the Games. For Chantal Rochon, a member of New Brunswick's mission staff, this is her first Canada Games. She said she can feel the energy around pin trading in the athletes' village and at venues. "I wasn't sure how interested I'd be in the pins, but I'm all in,' she said. 'It's super addicting. I traded one pin and then I was sold." Connecting across Canada Many pin traders who spoke with CBC News saw it as a valuable tool of connection between athletes from different provinces. "It's always a conversation starter, right? And it's a great way to, you know, get to know people from different places, learn about their culture and their sport and everything," Kara McLean, a rugby sevens player from Yukon, said Wednesday. She also sees some pins as invaluable souvenirs. "All my pins are put up on a bulletin board above my bed. And I just think back on all the fun times I've had. It's just an incredible memory, always,' she said. Newfoundland and Labrador Chef de Mission Jamie Randell has kept those memories through decades of experience with the Canada Games. This year marks her 10th event. 'I remember way back when I was there in 1995, there were a few pins, nothing like I've seen. It seems like every Games, the pins are getting more and more intense. And I think in 2025, it is the most pins that I have ever seen being traded," she said. "By the end of the week, you're going to see some pins going for clothing, jackets, you know, bucket hats. You know, it is a big currency of the Canada Games.' Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page. Related Stories Footer Links My Account Profile CBC Gem Newsletters Connect with CBC Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Mobile RSS Podcasts Contact CBC Submit Feedback Help Centre Audience Relations, CBC P.O. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6 Toll-free (Canada only): 1-866-306-4636 TTY/Teletype writer: 1-866-220-6045 About CBC Corporate Info Sitemap Reuse & Permission Terms of Use Privacy Jobs Our Unions Independent Producers Political Ads Registry AdChoices Services Ombudsman Public Appearances Commercial Services CBC Shop Doing Business with Us Renting Facilities Accessibility It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. About CBC Accessibility Accessibility Feedback © 2025 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved. Visitez
