Yukon Championships for Inuit and Dene Games this weekend

Photo by Whitehorse Star

The Yukon Aboriginal Sports Circle is hosting the annual Yukon Championships for Inuit and Dene Games this weekend.

There has been a last minute venue change for the Saturday events; the Yukon Championships will now be held at the Yukon College instead of at Elijah Smith School due to a scheduling conflict.

Sunday’s events will return to Elijah Smith School as originally scheduled.

The championships are split into Inuit or arctic games on Saturday and Dene games on Sunday.

Aboriginal Sport Circle executive director Greg Edgelow says there will be competitors from outside Whitehorse coming.

“We do know we’re going to have representation from outside Whitehorse and outside the territory,” he said.

The Yukon championships do not have a pre-registry requirement, therefore it is unknown how many people will attend until the games start.

Edgelow hopes to organize the championships in the future so that participants register early, so a better idea of who’s coming can be established before hand.

Edgelow would like to remind the public that traditional sports are for
everyone.

“It’s not just for first nations or aboriginal youth, it’s for everyone,” said Edgelow. “This is for everyone who lives in the Yukon.”

The Aboriginal Sports Circle is hoping to encourage more youth to get involved in the future by promoting and teaching traditional sports in the school system.

Edgelow says traditional sports are for all types of athletes, from gymnasts to basketball players.

All of the skills used in Inuit and Dene games are relevant to traditional hunting skills, he says.

“If you were not a good hunter, a good fisher, or gatherer, you did not survive,” said Edgelow.

“There’s a story behind every one of the events.”

Historically, Edgelow says hunters and gatherers used the games to demonstrate and improve their survival skills.

“There was a relevance to them with the culture of the past,” said Edgelow.

The sports, while they eventually turned to a competition, were for training, not for fun like many modern sports are.

“It wasn’t just going out and having fun,” said Edgelow.

Eventually, the hunters who used traditional sports to improve their skills added a competitive edge to them.

“They decided to bring them together and make them fun,” said Edgelow.

Tuesday night’s Olympic Torch celebration had some good examples of modern-day usage of traditional sports, Edgelow says.

One part in particular he said embodies what traditional sports can be used to train for was the break dancing.

“A lot of those moves are some of the techniques used (in traditional sports),” said Edgelow.

Edgelow says the athletes develop an interesting set of skills that can be used elsewhere in athletics.

“Some of these things are so unique,” he said. “The different skill levels that people develop is just amazing.”

There is no ideal traditional athlete; there is an event for a person of every height and size.

“You don’t have to be traditional athletes to participate in this,” said Edgelow.

Yukon Championships for Inuit and Dene Games organizer Charly Kelly says the games have been happening here for a long time.

“They’ve been going on as long as the Arctic Winter Games have been going on,” said Kelly.

The Yukon Championships are held every year.

When the Arctic Winter Games are happening, top athletes can move onto the final round of selection before the Arctic Winter Games.

Edgelow says the final trials will be held in the third week in January.

Eighteen Inuit games athletes and two coaches and 16 Dene games athletes and two coaches will move on to the Arctic Winter Games.

When the Arctic Winter Games are not happening, the off years are about promotion of traditional sports.

Kelly says mostly youth come out to the Yukon championships, but there are adults who hope to qualify for the Arctic Winter Games.

The championships have a youth and open category for both girls and boys.

This weekend the Inuit events on Saturday will include; one foot high kick, one/two foot high kick, Alaskan high kick, kneel jump, one hand reach, head pull, airplane, knuckle hop and the arm pull.

The Dene events will include; stick pull, finger pull and snow snake, depending on snow conditions.

Everyone is encouraged to attend, either to participate or watch.

“It’s great for people to come and watch,” said Kelly.

On Saturday registration for the Inuit events will begin at 8:30 a.m. and go till 9:30 a.m. with warm up beginning at 9 a.m. The event will begin with an opening prayer at 9:45 a.m.

On Sunday, the Dene games registration will start at 8:30 a.m. till 9:30 a.m. The day will begin with an opening prayer at 9:30 a.m. and run until about 4:30 p.m.

Edgelow says the schedule is subject to change, depending on attendance and how long each event runs. More information and schedules are available at http://www.yasc.ca