The annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) bring hundreds of Indigenous athletes from across Alaska and surrounding regions to compete in traditional games while celebrating heritage, according to multiple reports. The event includes competitions such as the “two-foot high kick,” an Arctic game practiced by northern Alaska Native communities, in which athletes kick a seal-skin ball suspended from a kickstand using both feet. One article describes Iñupiaq athlete Nicole Johnson, who in July 1989 at the WEIO set a women’s world record in the sport by striking the target at 6 feet 6 inches. It also notes that Johnson, now 57, plans to compete again, this time in the dene stick pull, where two participants grip a greased stick and attempt to pull an object from each other. The coverage presents the WEIO as a living tradition that combines athletic competition with cultural continuity, drawing large participation and spectator attention as athletes perform familiar skills passed down through generations.
World Eskimo Indian Olympics revive traditional Alaska Native games with new generations competing
The annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) bring hundreds of Indigenous athletes from across Alaska and surrounding regions to compete in traditional games while celebrating heritage, according to...
- The World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) is an annual event that features traditional Alaska Native Indigenous games.
- The competition draws hundreds of athletes to participate and celebrate heritage.
- The event includes the “two-foot high kick,” in which athletes kick a seal-skin ball from a kickstand.
- Iñupiaq athlete Nicole Johnson set a women’s world record in the two-foot high kick in 1989 by hitting a 6 ft 6 in target.
- This year’s coverage says Nicole Johnson will compete in the dene stick pull.
The annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics draw hundreds of Indigenous athletes to partake in traditional games and celebrate their heritage
3 hours agoThe annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics draw hundreds of Indigenous athletes to partake in traditional games and celebrate their heritageAs Nicole Johnson prepared to compete in the Alaska sports arena, she visualized propelling into the air and kicking the ball with both of her feet simultaneously. The Iñupiaq athlete was partaking in the Arctic game of two-foot high kick, long practiced by her community of northern Alaska Natives. When she kicked the ball made of seal skin that dangled from a kickstand, the crowd erupted in cheers. That day in July 1989 at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO), Johnson set the women’s world record in the sport by striking the target at 6ft 6in.For this year’s event, at age 57, she will compete in the dene stick pull, where she and another participant will hold on to the center of a stick covered in grease and attempt to wrest the object from their opponent. Continue reading...
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