The Chief of Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc is excited about the prospect of hosting the 2027 North American Indigenous Games in the Kamloops area.
Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir tells NL News they are excited to show off the area to the thousands of Indigenous athletes, coaches, and team staff that take part in these games every four years.
“We are excited that its going to be something that is going to be drawing upon so many athletes from various backgrounds and different fields and sports. You know our hope is to really take some pride into our community and within our nation,” Casimir told NL News.
“Kamloops is renowned for being the Tournament Capital, so we’re just excited about being able to bring all those different opportunities, bringing all the youth together. We’re also quite excited that we’re also going to be having a cultural village as well to be able to showcase our history here within Secwepemc’uluw”
Each edition of the North American Indigenous Games feature eight days of competition in up to 16 sports, including 3D archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, box lacrosse, canoe/kayak, golf, rifle shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball, and wrestling.
Organizers also say the games generate approximately $15 to 20 million in economic spending in the host province or territory.
“It was something that just kind of landed on our desk and we thought, you know what, we need something positive to be going on,” Casimir added.
“Knowing our relationship with the City of Kamloops, it was like ‘you know what, let’s see if this is something that we definitely want to pursue’ and we’ve been getting more and more excited about it as we go forward.”
Bids for the 2027 games will be reviewed in March next year, with a site evaluation scheduled for April 2023 ahead of final presentations to NAIG Council board in May 2023.
The winning bid will be announced in July of next year during the closing ceremonies of the 2023 North American Indigenous Games, being held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
