Behchokǫ̀ tournament shows hand games ‘thriving’

A team from Wrigley won the $50,000 grand prize at a Behchokǫ̀ hand games tournament attended by hundreds.

Sahtu Grand Chief Wilbert Kochon, who attended last weekend’s three-day event, said three of his family members from Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope were participants.

“They came in second place out of 64 teams, so its pretty good. We never ever practised together or played together as a team, it was the first time. It seemed to work out,” he told Cabin Radio.

“It really shows you don’t have to try too hard to win if you just have fun. Other, smaller communities can win, and it doesn’t have to be the biggest.”

Kochon says the tournament was a success thanks to the Tłı̨chǫ Government, which organized a live stream on Facebook and coordinated volunteers.

“It’s a big event to set up and people do good work there. All of the volunteers do the work to set it up and it’s a big thing,” said Kochon.

“Number one is always taking care of people, making sure they eat. So they do that. They should be proud of themselves.”

Clarence Mackenzie has been coordinating hand games in Behchokǫ̀ for 14 years. This year, he says there were 576 participants with nine players on each team. More than 40 of the teams came from outside the Tłı̨chǫ region.

Some attendees travelled to the community from Colville Lake, Fort Good Hope, Whatì, Łútsël K’é, Hay River, Fort Providence and Yellowknife, Mackenzie said. Others flew in from the Yukon, northern Alberta and British Columbia.

This time around, Mackenzie says he heard people call the tournament the “Stanley Cup of hand games.” The tournament has also faced criticism from some quarters over the amount of money involved – $2,000 per team to enter and a prize pot of $150,000.

Nineteen-year-old Ty Lafferty has been playing hand games since he was seven. He said his team came into the tournament “just wanting to have a good time and have a really fun tournament, not really about winning or anything.”

Lafferty spent the past few weeks playing traditional games with school students. He said younger people are more and more interested in taking part.

“It’s amazing that these tournaments are happening, and I think it’s great that there’s even more happening with passing years. I love these tournaments. I think they’re amazing and the kids should be able to experience them,” he said.

“They really want to learn, they really want to know about the culture and how to play, and really want to try their best in the end. It doesn’t even just have to be hand games, it’s all the traditional games … when I was younger, it was just starting up to come back and it was really cool to see it at that point. But to see it thriving now is amazing, so amazing.”

On Saturday, Edmonton-based anti-bullying group Magoo Crew made an appearance at the tournament ahead of an Oilers watch party at Elizabeth Mackenzie Elementary School.

Magoo Crew travels Canada with a mission of inspiring Indigenous youth, discussing bullying and suicide awareness, supporting culture and education – and promoting the Edmonton Oilers. Group leader Magoo, real name Blair Gladue, is a superfan instantly recognizable to some northerners and fans of the team.

Magoo Crew started in 1996 with breakdancing and rap music, then made a comeback in 2015 after years of dormancy. On Saturday, Magoo bounded from fan to fan shaking hands.

“When you come to a community, you don’t want to go there and just stand there and just look at everybody,” Gladue said.

“You want to go there and make sure you shake everybody’s hands to show them that you’re respectful for being here and spreading love.”

On the sidelines of the hand games themselves, other activities can thrive.

A traditional foods tent was set up outside the tournament’s sportsplex host venue, while art and craft vendors had booths inside featuring jewellery, artwork and clothing.

Among those vendors, Behchokǫ̀ resident Gina Migwi was selling jewellery and mitts with the help of relatives.

Migwi said she was there to root for her son, a participant in the tournament, and to showcase her sewing work, something she only started doing last year. She has started making earrings and bank card holders.

“My son is into sewing, my daughter is into sewing. So, I just picked up the beads and I started sewing, too,” she said.

“I’ll say it is a part of healing. I really enjoy sewing now.”