Thoughts On The Olympics

The opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place tomorrow with another first for the Inuit Language as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) broadcasts them in Inuktitut to their northern feed.

Another important milestone for our language is achieved.

I give high marks to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for doing their homework to ensure the proper inclusion of Canadian Aboriginal culture at this international event; not only during the opening ceremonies where I hope the world will see a reflection of us as Aboriginal people, but also at different events throught the games.

When you unpack the term "Aboriginal" you find three constitutionally recognized groups - the Inuit, the Metis, and the First Nations (Indians) and great care has been taken to ensure specific inclusion of all three groups. Mr. John Furlong in particular has been exceptionally sensitive to this fact of life in Canada.

Inuit were very happy when the logo for the 2010 Winter Olympics featured a stylized Inukshuk. I remember when it was unveiled the Head of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge spoke some words in Inuktitut to a live television audience. When these things happen it means people around the world learn about Inuit, and the more people know about Inuit, the more I believe we will be successful in advancing our society in this modern world.

People are becoming more aware of the many challenges facing Inuit in these times. We recently launched 2010 Year of the Inuit not only to underline Inuit achievements but also to raise awareness in Canada and around the world of the many issues that face us as a people. We have lower health outcomes, lower education completion rates, and difficult housing conditions - basically standards of living that are below those of most Canadians.

It is important that people are made aware of our successes but we cannot, and should, not hide the difficult facts of life.

Inuit, like all Canadians I hope, will celebrate these Olympics not only for the Aboriginal focus they have but also because we are as enthusiastic about sports as any other Canadian. We have our own traditional Inuit sports but we play a lot of hockey and will be following that competition very closely.

In addition to the opening ceremonies being broadcast in Inuktitut the closing ceremonies will also be carried in our language across the northern APTN network, as will one of the semi-final hockey games and the gold medal final.

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