ONTARIO — Registration for the Masters Indigenous Games (MIG) went live on December 30, and will take athletes to Ottawa in August from the 24 to 27 this year.
Fifteen-hundred athletes participating in six sports over four days with an Indigenous Cultural Festival will make the return of the games a welcome experience.
The MIG provides Indigenous adults, aged 20 years and older, the opportunity to compete against their peers in a variety of contemporary and traditional sporting activities. The MIG is an opportunity to get physically active, engage with community and participate in competition. The Games bring together thousands of Indigenous athletes from around the world to compete in sport competitions, celebrate Indigenous wellness and showcase the rich diversity of cultures and traditions of the world’s Indigenous Peoples.
In addition to the various sport competitions, the MIG provides participants and spectators the opportunity to celebrate and promote the various cultures of Indigenous peoples world-wide. A cultural festival (free and open to the public) showcasing Indigenous artists, performers, storytellers and vendors, in addition to interactive and immersive sport and cultural experiences, serves as an opportunity to create dialogue, promote greater understanding of the worlds Indigenous Peoples, and celebrate the power of sport and culture.
The first edition of the Masters Indigenous Games was held in July of 2018, in Toronto, Ontario. The MIG was developed by Indigenous Sport & Wellness Ontario (the designated Provincial/Territorial Aboriginal Sport Body for Ontario), as a legacy initiative of the 2017 North American Indigenous Games. The inaugural 2018 Games featured 600 athletes from 6 countries, participating in a number of contemporary and traditional sports, and a three-day cultural festival at Downsview Parc.
The Masters Indigenous Games are made possible by ISWO’s belief that sport and culture have the power to change lives, improve well being, and provide opportunities for personal and community wellness. ISWO is an organization dedicated to the wellness of Indigenous Peoples across Ontario, through programs that promote sport, recreation, physical literacy and land-based learning. ISWO promotes healthy active lifestyles and offers training, certifications and support for coaches, athletes, and similar organizations, and serves all Indigenous Peoples and communities across the province of Ontario, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis, living on and off-reserve.
As for the host nation, the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation is a proud and progressive Algonquin community. Pikwakanagan is situated on the shores of the Bonnechere River and Golden Lake in Renfrew County, Ontario. Located off of Highway 60, the community is 1.5 hours west of Ottawa and 1.5 hours south of Algonquin Park.
The Algonquin Traditional Territory in Ontario is an area of more than 9 million acres (14,000 square miles) within the watersheds of the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers. This area in Ontario includes the National Capital Region, all of Renfrew County and most of Algonquin Park.
The Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation is the only federally recognized Algonquin community in Ontario. In Quebec, there are nine Algonquin communities: Abit ibiwinni, Timiskaming, Eagle Village (Kebaouek), Wolf Lake, Long Point (Winneway), Kitcisakik (Grand Lac), Lac Simon, Mitcikinabik Inik (Algonquins of Barriere Lake) and Kitigan Zibi (River Garden) First Nations.
