Indian tribes plan International Traditional Games in '99

Called the First International Traditional Games, the event is expected to draw tribal competitors from as far away as Mexico and New Zealand, Blackfeet tribal members said in announcing the plan on Saturday.

The goal is to rediscover a lost element of Indian culture.

"We're losing our youth ... This culture 50 years from now is going to be erased if something like this doesn't become effective," said Ron Russell, owner of a Missoula mortgage company and project backer who is of Shawnee heritage.

The games are scheduled in Browning and the surrounding area Aug. 16, 17 and 18, organizers said Saturday at a news conference in East Glacier. Tickets will go on sale in March. Prices are not yet decided.

Like the Olympics, the games will have numerous events at different locations including horse racing, traditional native archery games and "shinny," a game similar to hockey, but played with sticks and without boundaries so players can travel for miles.

Unlike the Olympics, these long-forgotten games will require many players to learn new skills before they compete.

"We want participation, not just spectator sports," said Dee Anna Brady-Leader.

In between the rough and tumble, participants will visit "learning lodges" and join storytelling, song and dance groups.

Ms. Brady-Leader said the project dates back to 1989, when she was assistant principal at Browning Middle School. When several kids asked what games their ancestors played, teachers couldn't answer. She and the kids hit the books and came up with a list of ancient games recorded by ethnographers.

"Even the 17 elders that we took the games to had not heard of or played them because they had grown up in mission schools," she said.

But the elders could fill in details that the ethnographers of a century ago had neglected.

In a game called "Make the Stick Jump," for example, ethnographers wrote of decorating the sticks. The kids wanted to paint their sticks, but the elders warned them that paint is traditionally used only for sacred or ceremonial purposes, not for games.

Planning for the International Traditional Games began in April 1997. Blackfeet Tribal members and representatives from the Blackfeet Community College met with other Montana tribal college presidents and launched the plan with $12,000 in seed money from the Montana Committee for the Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The organizations have come together under an umbrella group called the International Traditional Games Society.

Glacier Park Inc., which runs Glacier Park's concessions, is donating facilities and other assistance. The group is looking for sponsorships from athletic wear manufacturers and others, but they have no estimate of the cost.

The group hopes to pass the torch to the Flathead Reservation to be host the 2001 games and start a tradition that will teach children sportsmanship, self-confidence and pride.

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