Cultural Olympiad is a giant arts event - plays, performances, art, seminars, etc, that happen at the same time as the sporting events... basically the entire city is a huge event centre!
Re: "Stolen land" - Definitely words to make people ask questions and think negatively of the Olympics. Of course the First Nations were here long before European settlers, and they got shafted for the most part. Quite often when a new community or centre or road is being built, they come forward claiming that the land is theirs or is sacred to them, etc. Fair enough. There are some really rich nations [First Nations 'tribes'] here and some that are not so rich. Some of them have casinos and make a ton of money off that. There are many reservations in the area where many First Nations people live, and many support systems in place for them, should they choose to use them. The stolen land part refers to the white man building on what they consider 'their' land, even though there's been no building on reserves or sacred spiritual sites. It's great publicity for them. My MiL works with First Nations helping them start businesses, and I have some First Nation friends, and to me the whole stolen land thing is a publicity stunt to get attention. Everyone wants a piece of the Olympics, the largest televised/publicized event in the world, and First Nations is hosting a ton of cultural events during the Olympics to show off their people and history and art. *shrug* I can only hope that some good comes of it.
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Date: 2010-01-31 05:33 am (UTC)Re: "Stolen land" - Definitely words to make people ask questions and think negatively of the Olympics. Of course the First Nations were here long before European settlers, and they got shafted for the most part. Quite often when a new community or centre or road is being built, they come forward claiming that the land is theirs or is sacred to them, etc. Fair enough. There are some really rich nations [First Nations 'tribes'] here and some that are not so rich. Some of them have casinos and make a ton of money off that. There are many reservations in the area where many First Nations people live, and many support systems in place for them, should they choose to use them. The stolen land part refers to the white man building on what they consider 'their' land, even though there's been no building on reserves or sacred spiritual sites. It's great publicity for them. My MiL works with First Nations helping them start businesses, and I have some First Nation friends, and to me the whole stolen land thing is a publicity stunt to get attention. Everyone wants a piece of the Olympics, the largest televised/publicized event in the world, and First Nations is hosting a ton of cultural events during the Olympics to show off their people and history and art. *shrug* I can only hope that some good comes of it.