My experience covering NAIG
- Jeanelle Mandes | August 13, 2014
I started my internship with Eagle Feather News beginning of May and John said that I would be focusing a lot on the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG). So from May until even now, part of my life has been all about NAIG.
I've written tons of stories about and it came to the point where I felt like I worked for NAIG. I was happy to cover stories about this amazing event that Regina hosted. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience this and I was proud to be a part of it telling the stories of our athletes and those who worked hard to make this event happen.
I had planned the whole week carefully and even made arrangements for my parents to keep my little girl for the week of the Games because I knew I was coming home late and waking up extra early everyday. I even opened up my home to accommodate some the parents of the athletes from Team Sask. I was really pumped and looking forward to the games.
The Opening Ceremonies were held at Mosaic Stadium and as soon as I walked onto the field, I looked to the huge crowd and I saw pride.
Pride from the people of all the athletes as everyone wore their team colors, waving their province or state or First Nation flags, and even little kids sitting on the shoulders of their parents waving down to the athletes with huge smiles with possible thoughts that one day, that will be them. It was one of the most amazing moments in my life.
After the opening ceremonies were over, immediately I went off to interview athletes from different teams in the parking lot and on the field. A lot of them were surprised that they were asked to be interviewed. I realized that I didn't have any business cards so I wrote down the web address to our website so the athletes could view their stories.
Every day when I got home, I sat down in front of my laptop and I studied the times for the sporting events and the entertainment at the "Kirby Littletent Memorial Cultural Village" for the next day. I made sure that I wrote down the web address on pieces of paper ahead of time for those that I interviewed.
I was up by 6 a.m. in the mornings and out the door by 8 covering different sports and I would stay out till the entertainment was done each night. When I got home, my work was not over; I would stay up till 1 or 2 in the morning finishing up stories and photos from the day.
I always woke up tired but the thought of what stories I would find that day pumped up my energy. Each athlete had their own unique story to share.
One story that really stuck out in my mind was about a little girl from the Yukon. She was torn when she heard that the swimming event was cancelled. She said that she practiced and trained herself hard to make it as a swimming athlete. But she was very determined to play in NAIG that she tried out for athletics and she ended up making it for the sport.
When I asked her how she liked her experience at NAIG, she went on about how beautiful Regina was. Coming from an isolated place, she talked with such great enthusiasm about how incredible it was for her to walk in a mall downtown. She described it as 'Wow! There were so many stores; I didn't know where to go.' Those are the kind of stories that really touched my heart.
The entertainment was awesome. There were so many cultural activities and entertainers happening at the same time, it was hard to choose where to focus your attention to.
I enjoyed watching and learning the different hand games from the Northwest Territories. The closing ceremonies were amazing like the opening ceremonies. The whole First Nations University of Canada lawn was filled with people, teepees, and vendor tents, entertainers and Adam Beach!
In the crowd numerous groups of athletes from different provinces and states mingled amongst each other trading pins and sharing stories of their sporting experiences.
I've gained so many memories. Whenever I reflect back to when NAIG was held in Regina, I will remember youth, effort, culture and pride. And work, lots of work! My overall experience was amazing!