Legacy of Hope: What the Games Mean for Aboriginal Peoples

Growing up in Vancouver’s troubled downtown eastside, Tewanee Joseph survived by playing sports from dawn to dusk, especially his favorite game of lacrosse. Eventually, this love of sports and Joseph’s role serving on the Squamish Nation council would lead to the job of a lifetime – CEO of the Four Host First Nations for the 2010 Olympic Games.

Joseph was the youngest ever elected officer to the council and, for several years, he was in the unique position of working closely with the legendary late Chief Joe Mathias.

It was Chief Mathias, one of Canada’s leading Aboriginal thinkers, that challenged Joseph directly: fight for your people, help them take their rightful place in the economic and social mainstream of this country. Help them to break stereotypes and engage the outer world in a self-actualizing way.

“One day – and I have never forgotten it – Chief Mathias said to us: if we ever get a chance to participate in the Olympics, we must grasp that opportunity; we will get to share our culture with the world,” says Joseph.

“And so it came to pass, after many years of the hardest negotiations I have ever taken part in.”

“First, the four Nations – Squamish, Lil’wat, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh – came together and it wasn’t easy. There were issues we had to work out and, over the course of two years or so, I met with leaders from these nations more than I had my entire career as a councillor. But we did it; we found common ground.”

This first partnership led to many more alliances – with Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), the provincial and federal governments, the City of Vancouver, Whistler and others. In the end, history was made with Aboriginal Peoples hosting the Olympics for the first time – as full and active partners.

While there is no doubt that the Games provide an opportunity for Aboriginal Peoples to showcase their cultures and entrepreneurial spirit, Joseph is convinced that the experience can be much more transformational – not just for Aboriginal Peoples, but for non-Aboriginal people as well.

Without question, the Olympics provide jobs and development to local Aboriginal communities; so far $56 million has been awarded to more than 100 Aboriginal businesses. For many, the Games have proven to be an economic stimulus package helping them to weather the economic downturn.

Other initiatives have also served to create lasting memories of Aboriginal success:

• The 2010 gold, silver and bronze medals feature West Coast Aboriginal designs of ravens and orcas based on artworks by B.C. artist Corrine Hunt.
• For the first time in Olympic history, retail merchandising will recognize Indigenous art as part of an official Olympic program.
• A 2010 Aboriginal Youth Legacy Fund has been set up to support Aboriginal youth in the areas as education, culture, sport and sustainability. One third of the royalties received by the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games from the sale of Aboriginal licensed products will go towards this fund.
• The B.C. Aboriginal Snow Board team, often featured by the media, will represent Canada. Since 2004, the team has grown from the original 10 Squamish and Lil’wat First Nation members to 116 youth participants.
• The Olympic torch will travel through 115 Aboriginal communities before arriving at BC Place stadium for the Feb. 12 opening ceremonies.

In addition, Four Host First Nations has worked in partnership with the First Nations Employment Society and other partners to offer three recruitment fairs for 2010 job opportunities.

Through these job fairs, Sodexco, the food and beverage company, has hired 53 Aboriginal workers, PTI has hired 65 and NBC 25 Aboriginal people. All are still looking for more Aboriginal recruits, with wages for these jobs ranging from $13 to $29 an hour.

And then there are the hundreds of Aboriginal volunteers and committee members, working diligently to support the Games – often behind the scenes.

After twice crisscrossing Canada, Joseph says the vast majority of Aboriginal people are solidly behind the Games.

“Aboriginal people are eager to be part of the Games: as athletes, artists, workers, performers, volunteers. We’ve witnessed nothing less than a tidal wave of grass-roots enthusiasm,” says Joseph.

For Joseph, it all comes back to Chief Mathias’s words: break stereotypes.

“In this country, the words Aboriginal and success are so rarely put together,” says Joseph.

“I am confident that those two words are going to be inextricably linked. When it comes to the 2010 Games, Aboriginal Peoples will be singled out for their success in an event that many commentators suggest will be defined and remembered for Aboriginal participation.”

“We’re no longer window dressing – dime store Indians in a headdress, trotted out at opening and closing ceremonies,” he adds.

“We’re now operating on a world stage and we will take all that experience and inspiration back to our communities and businesses.”