CTVOlympics.com photo

First Nations vow that pride will be their Olympics legacy
Although there has been a lot of controversy regarding First Nations and the Vancouver Oympics, Justin George, chief of the Tsleil-Waututh, says the ultimate legacy will be pride, Canadian Press reports here. “The level of participation hands down is going to be the legacy in that it’s given us the opportunity to educate the world (about) who we are,” says George. The Tsleil-Waututh are one of the four bands on whose original territories the games are being held.

Deadline for Cobell settlement resolution is pushed back
TGTBT, as the shorthand goes. Too good to be true. The deadline for the necessary congressional approval of the multi-billion-dollar settlement in the landmark Cobell case over mismanaged Indian trust money has been pushed back to Feb. 28, according to this Indian Country Today story. After decades of mismanagement and squandered funds, another few weeks probably doesn’t matter. But still.

Interior secretary calls summit with tribes over Cape Cod wind project
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday in Washington with proponents of a wind power project off Cape Cod, the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette reports here. Opponents of the project also will be there, including members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe. Last week, a ruling found that the project would interfere with the park’s traditional religious use of the site.

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to save Council Oaks Tree
The historic Council Oaks Tree at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won’t have to be chopped down to make way for a new student union after all. The tree is on the school seal, and the original – the present one is a replacement – is believed to be the site of peace talks between the Dakota Sioux and Ojibwe tribes, the AP reports here.

A little haggis with your fry bread?
We can’t top this BBC lede, so we’ll just repeat it verbatim: An extraordinary link between Scotland and a Native American Indian tribe is set to take centre stage at an International Clan gathering. Get the story here.

Gwen Florio

Tags: 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Aquinnah Wampanoag, buffalo post, Cherokee, Cobell v. Salazar, Council Oaks Tree, Dakota Sioux, Elouise Cobell, First Nations, Native American news, Ojibwe, Tsleil-Waututh, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Four Host First Nations logo (Design: Jody Broomfield, Squamish Nation)

First, the BBC notes here that the Olympics will take place on the ancestral lands of four First Nations – the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations – and who are serving as partners in the Olymics that will be held in February and March.

For some aboriginals, this partnership is seen as a unique opportunity for Canada’s indigenous peoples to show their culture to the world.

For others, the Vancouver Olympics are a waste of money and resources that could be better spent on serious issues facing aboriginals in Canada.

Some in the latter camp have formed a group called the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) whose motto is “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land.”

Meanwhile, the Montreal Gazette has this story about First Nations in Manitoba using the Olympic torch run through their lands to highlight the problem of deadly violence against indigenous women in Canada.

“People need to be reminded that these women were not treated with the same respect. … You look at the response to the death of one white woman on the road. It’s not the same thing,” says said Roseau River Anishnabe First Nation Chief Terry Nelson.

The torch will enter Treaty One territory on Tuesday.

Gwen Florio

Tags: 2010 Vancouver Olympics, buffalo post, First Nations, Four Host First Nations, Lil'wat, Musqueam, Native American news, Olympic Resistance Network, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh

Official Olympics Tseil-Waututh pin.

But he was told to put that aside and instead done a sort of costume, a long robe “like you see the king and the queen has in Europe – those big long robes that drag on the floor.”

It wasn’t remotely authentic, he says. But when George objected, organizers suggested that perhaps he’d be better off not participating at all.

George says the whole thing felt political, and that he’s hurt by his exclusion because “I can’t showcase who we really are as First Nations people.”

Organizers for the ceremonies responded that “our first Nations partners are handled in the most accurate and positive light possible.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: First Nations, Tsleil-Waututh, Vancouver Olympics