Indigenous Health Challenges And AIG Return To Alberta This Summer season

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(ANNews) – There are some exciting activities going on this summer that will promote health, fitness and wellness. With the recent announcement that the province is in Phase 2 of reopening, the Alberta Indigenous Games are slated to take place in August.

The Indigenous Sport Council of Alberta (ISCA) is also back with the Summer Fitness Challenge, a completely free fitness program open to all Indigenous people in Alberta from June 14th to August 21st.

Each participant receives a ready-made training program that includes three days of strength training and two days of cardio. Participants can then take a photo or video of themselves each day and post it on social media to win prizes.

“It’s really fun because you see people from all over the province posting their pictures and videos, all supporting each other,” said Jake Hendy, Executive Director of ISCA.

95 different communities inside and outside Alberta are currently participating in the Fitness Challenge.

38 First Nations in Alberta are represented in the Challenge, including Alexander First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan, Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Ermineskin Cree Nation, Kehewin Cree Nation, Saddle Lake Cree Nation, Siksika Nation, Whitefish Lake First Nation and many, many more.

It’s like an old saying, Hendy said in an interview with Global News: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish, you give him a lifetime. ”

The Summer Fitness Challenge is participation-based, meaning everyone walks at their own pace. In fact, the program has a ton of different programs that are suitable for specific demographic groups.

“Everyone goes where they are – they modify, modify, modify. If you haven’t exercised in thirty to forty years, it’s fine that you can. We have a disability department, especially for people with disabilities. We have a new department for expectant mothers for those who have had or will have a baby this year. ”

“It’s all about participation, it’s about fun, it’s about being in the physical part of your body that helps you with all the other parts,” Hendy told Global News’ Mike Sobel.

Last fall, ISCA taught 10 indigenous communities how to create their own fitness programs “from Piikani – Kainai in the south – to the Little Red River Cree Nation in the north and everywhere in between,” said Hendy.

The ISCA is also coordinating a family fitness challenge that works in the same way as the summer fitness challenge. However, the family fitness challenge is based on the teachings of the medicine wheel. Hendy said, “They look forward to family activities every day.”

“This is a big thing we’re talking about. With the pandemic and shutdowns, there are a lot of things beyond control … But we can control our physical health and when we have our physical health it helps our mental health which helps our emotional and spiritual health. It helps to be better parents, grandparents as a whole. ”

ISCA will host a special virtual walk / jog / run on June 21, Indigenous People’s Day [and] only to alert the boarding school children who survived and those who did not, ”said Hendy.

ISCA is also very excited to announce that the very popular Alberta Indigenous Games will take place this summer. Hendy said they are currently accepting applications from potential coordinators, security members or summer students for the AIG August 12-19 in Edmonton, Alberta – they are in need of volunteers too.

The Games celebrate and promote indigenous athletics for youth of all ages from across Alberta – and include numerous team and individual sports.

Like other projects the ISCA is running, they will host a hiking challenge, a golf challenge, a virtual bean-bag / cornhole tournament and virtual indigenous games in the fall.

Ethan Bear, Fitness Challenge Ambassador and Edmonton Oilers Defender, said of ISCA’s programs, “We know it’s important to take care of the people around us, but it’s also important to take care of yourself and you to respect personal well-being. ”

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With this in mind, ISCA and I know that it is more important than ever to be and remain physically active at home in order to support the teachings of the medicine wheel for balanced physical, mental, intellectual and emotional health. ”

You can find more information about ISCA and its projects on Facebook and Instagram.

Jacob Caridinal is the LJI reporter for Alberta Native News.