Indigenous People Lead Push for 2030 Winter Olympics, Paralympics in Vancouver
VOA News|AMERICAS
January 12, 2022 3:15 PM (source)
Indigenous People Lead Push for 2030 Winter Olympics, Paralympics in Vancouver
原住民主導推動2030年溫哥華冬奧與帕運
January 12, 2022 3:15 PM
Craig McCulloch
VOA News 搶先看
加拿大四個原住民族、溫哥華(Vancouver)以及惠斯勒市(First Nations)共同簽署了一份備忘錄,宣布爭取舉辦2030年冬奧會的主辦權。溫哥華和惠斯勒是 2010 年冬奧的地主,當時原住民族群(First Nations)就已在開幕及閉幕中扮演舉足輕重的角色,事隔二十年,這次將由四大原民族主導,將帶給加拿大族群間更多的和解與進步,透過族群間積極的對話,一同研究2030年冬舉辦奧的可行性。
A group of Indigenous people is prepping a bid to bring the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to Vancouver, Canada. It would be the first time any Olympics was hosted by Indigenous people and could lead to further reconciliation with Canada's First Nations.
The group was known as the "Four Host First Nations" when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2010.
The Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh are from the area around the present-day city of Vancouver. The Lil Wat are near the present-day village of Whistler, the famed ski resort about 120 kilometers north of downtown Vancouver.
They have signed a memorandum of understanding with the municipal governments of both Vancouver and Whistler to take the lead on making the bid for the same Games in 2030.
The First Nations played a prominent role in the 2010 Games and during the opening and closing ceremonies.
Wilson Williams, a council member and spokesperson for the Squamish Nation, fondly recalls the Vancouver area hosting the Winter Games and how it brought together over 300 Indigenous youth from across Canada in what came to be known as "The Gathering."
He said in the years since, the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples has come into effect and Canada has entered an era of reconciliation involving historic human rights abuses committed against First Nations people.
Wilson said the Winter Games in 2030 would allow for the stories of First Nations people from across Canada to be told.
"So I think, you know, there's a real hunger for sharing stories of who we are, where we come from, you know, there's always that political eagerness to share the landscape in the visions of that, but I think the real story is paving a story that's a vision for generations down the road," he said.
Wiliams said hosting the Games would also set a healthy example for Indigenous youth and help build a better relationship with non-First Nations Canadians.
"I think a First Nation, especially Squamish nation, really trying to pave a healthy path for our future, and setting up our "mun-mun" (children), we call it, our children for success in the future. And living a strong, vibrant and harmoniously with, with our peers, not just with First Nations community, but the community at large, you know, and I think that's something that we're really going to take pride in," Williams said.
Salt Lake City, Utah, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, is also contending for the 2030 Games. Other bids could follow.
Montreal-based lawyer Dick Pound, the longest serving member of the International Olympic Committee and the founding president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, says, with Los Angeles, California set to host the Summer Games in 2028, it is less likely the United States will be picked for the 2030 Winter Games, boosting the chances that Vancouver's First Nations-led bid will succeed.
"It's the indigenous issue is one that now resonates a lot more strongly internationally. And the IOC is certainly alert to that. And of course, then they know the involvement in Vancouver to 2010. So, no, I don't think it's cutesy (a stunt) at all, I think it's a very good way of involving an important part of the community, particularly in B.C. (British Columbia)," Pound said.
The next step is for a formal collaboration agreement to be ironed out between First Nations and municipal governments, and then a feasibility study, which will detail the costs and sources of funding for the Games.
It is hoped this will happen in the next few months.
Almost all major venues still exist from the 2010 Games and would not need to be built.
Language Notes
註 1: bid 指「爭取;競爭」;本字也常指「出價,喊價競買」
註 2: memorandum 於本文指「協議備忘錄」;本字也常指「報告」
註 3: vibrant 於本文指「活躍的;精力充沛的;熱情洋溢的」;本字也常指「(色彩)鮮豔的;(光線)明亮的」
註 4: resonate 於本文指「引起共鳴」;本字也常指「發出回響;迴盪」
註 5: cutesy 指「矯揉造作的,忸怩作態的」的意思
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Check your comprehension!
Choose the BEST answer to each of the questions below. After you finish, highlight the parentheses to reveal the hidden answers.
1. ( B ) The word "prominent" in the fifth passage is closest in meaning to:
(A) invisible
(B) outstanding
(C) obscure
(D) vibrant
2. ( D ) According to the article, how does Wilson Williams feel about the 2010 Winter Olympics?
(A) anger
(B) sympathy
(C) disappointment
(D) appreciation
3. ( C ) Which of the following descriptions of the 2030 Winter Games in Canada is INCORRECT?
(A) It would allow the First Nations to tell their stories.
(B) It is meant to show solidarity with First Nations.
(C) It is more likely to be held in Salt Lake City.
(D) It would bring about reconciliation with the First Nations.
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