Alberta’s Indigenous Games Finds a Partner in JustServe

The Edmonton JustServe Council (EJSC) helped support the 10th Annual Alberta Indigenous Games (AIG) held in Edmonton, Alberta, from August 7 to 17, 2024. The games are an opportunity for young Indigenous athletes from across the country to compete in a variety of sporting events. According to the event organizers, AIG is Canada’s largest annual summer games and North America’s largest annual Indigenous summer games.

Edmonton JustServe Council

The EJSC — a collection of young people representing various faith groups and schools from across the Edmonton area — plans service projects in the community and brings together their respective groups to volunteer side by side. The EJSC assisted AIG with preparing supplies for participants and represented JustServe in the opening ceremonies.

Halah Teenah, chairperson of the EJSC, was glad to help and said of the experience, “I love volunteering because I get to visit new places and learn about new people in the community.”

Partnership

“[JustServe] started providing amazing volunteers in 2019 who are truly invaluable to our work,” said Jacob Hendy, CEO of AIG and member of the Edmonton Alberta Gateway Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

JustServe became an official partner of AIG in 2024, providing volunteer support at the opening ceremonies and throughout the games. JustServe, created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a free service that links community organizations with volunteers. The JustServe website and app share non-profit organizations’ volunteer needs with community members searching for opportunities to enhance the quality of life in their communities. JustServe puts local service projects at the fingertips of anyone looking to share their skills and time.

“There is a need for people from all walks of life to come together in order to understand each other and celebrate each other,” said Sarah Mosaico, the North and Central Alberta JustServe specialist. “Volunteerism is a vehicle to bring us to each other. For example, members of the EJSC come from many different backgrounds. Some council members were newcomers to Canada and had never interacted with Indigenous culture before the event. They felt so excited and honoured to learn more about the Indigenous Summer Games and show their support.”

History of the AIG

Hendy explained that the games are intended for “Indigenous youth, their families and communities to have a fun major sporting event to look forward to and train for every year.”

The first AIG was held under the direction of the late Allan Ross, a Cree man from Timber Bay, Saskatchewan. When Ross arrived in Edmonton, he saw a need for more Indigenous inclusion in sports, so he created the Edmonton Native Basketball Association. This group organized and developed basketball tournaments for Indigenous teams across the province (see “Alberta Indigenous Games Kick Off in Edmonton” and “AIG History<”). Ross, however, had a more expansive vision and saw the need for an Olympic-style Indigenous games in Alberta. Ross and others organized the first AIG in 2011, in which more than 300 youth participated.

The games continued with AIG events in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and then annually. The 2024 AIG saw more than 6,000 youth from across Alberta and Canada compete in 18 sports over 11 days at local venues.

“My wife, Shakeh, and our children are Crowfoots from the Siksika Nation (Blackfoot) and are direct descendants of Chief Crowfoot, who signed Treaty 7,” explained Hendy. “The Alberta Indigenous Games means so much to our family, as it gives our children an opportunity to play sports with other Indigenous kids and to celebrate one of their identities as Indigenous people.”

Hendy’s son, Jacob Moroni Crowfoot Hendy, participated in the basketball events. He said, “The Alberta Indigenous Games mean a lot to me because I can play basketball with kids from my tribe, and it is cool to have that opportunity.”

Hendy noted that from August 29 to September 2, AIG will host the Masters Alberta Indigenous Games (MAIG). He said the MAIG were started for “adults 22 to 100-plus — for those that aged out of our youth games, and for [other] adults, including residential school survivors, and their children who never had the opportunity to play sports they wanted with friends and family in a safe environment. Many get to be young again playing sports.”

Check out JustServe.org. The website makes it convenient to find opportunities to volunteer, make connections and build community unity.

Read the article in French