Atii Aksut! Team Nunavut readies for North American Indigenous Games

A team of 63 athletes and staff will represent Nunavut when the first North American Indigenous Games to be held in six years opens Saturday.

More than 5,000 athletes and staff representing over 750 communities are set to come together from July 15 to 23 for the games in Halifax and Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia.

The high-profile sports competition for Indigenous youth from across North America will take place on Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and traditional homeland of the Mi’kmaq People.

This year marks the 10th North American Indigenous Games, which usually run every three years, and the first in six years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the 2020 Games.

Athletes will compete in 16 sports including canoe and kayak, lacrosse, and 3D archery where participants roam a preset course shooting at foam animal targets.

This year, Team Nunavut will compete in volleyball, badminton and wrestling.

Cambridge Bay’s Eekeeluak Avalak, who made history when he brought home Nunavut’s first-ever gold medal at the Canada Summer Games last August, will compete in men’s wrestling.

All Team Nunavut participants will don uniforms displaying the eye-catching red, yellow and blue of the Nunavut flag.

Team Nunavut’s slogan is “Atii Aksut!” meaning “Go ahead, try hard!” in Inuktitut.

“I know the athletes, coaches and volunteers are all very excited to once again represent Nunavut at a major games,” said Bev Netusil, a member of this year’s mission staff.

Netusil was the Nunavut women’s volleyball coach at the 2022 Canada Summer Games held in Ontario’s Niagara region and the 2023 Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo, Alta.

“Every opportunity we get to showcase our spirit is welcomed, and I’m excited to see the continued growth of our athletes at these heightened levels of competition,” she said.

“The more exposure and experience these athletes get increases their level of competitiveness each competition they go to.”

Fans who can’t make it to Nova Scotia to watch the games in person can tune into livestreams of the events on the 2023 North American Indigenous Games YouTube page, and can keep track of schedules and results on the Games website naig2023.com.