Teams and traditions

Tribal athletes and performers flock to Denver for the North American Indigenous Games

By Annette Espinoza
Denver Post Staff Writer

Quiet and dignified, Carrie Howell slowly moved to the beat of five drums on a Skyline Park lawn in downtown Denver on Thursday.

Dressed in a beige buckskin dress and a red, white, yellow and black beaded necklace representing the four compass points, Howell followed her daughter and grandchildren in a stately dance. The performance marked the opening of the Cultural Village, an American Indian market that is part of the 2006 North American Indigenous Games held throughout the metro area this week.

It was fitting that Howell danced last in her family, because she had taught the others the craft, following an ancient tradition in her Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe, based in South Dakota.

"It's exciting," she said of the dancing and the games. "A good opportunity for Indian youth to build their self-esteem and their experience."

It was also a chance for her granddaughter, Penelope Rodriguez, 4, and her grandson, Micah Rodriguez, 7, to perform dances she'd taught them.

The family lives in Thornton and performs with the Seven Falls Indian Dancers in Colorado Springs.

Howell's daughter, Michelle Muth-Rodriguez, has been performing the dances since age 2.

Muth-Rodriguez, who is hearing-impaired, retired from dancing for a while to concentrate on her work as a project director for Deaf Sure Can, which provides sign-language training for police and community organizations.

The games brought her back to the ancient dance. "It's a great way to be united and meet diverse people," she said.

"The dances are an oral history that are passed down and not written," said Dennis Montoya, a Santee Sioux tribe member, as he waited for his turn to sing.

Montoya, who dances and sings with Denver Singers, noted that the group sings Santee Sioux and other intertribal songs but not ceremonial songs, which are sacred and only performed privately by individual tribes.

Montoya, who was raised in Denver, has been dancing since age 7.

"I dance for the people who can't dance, the elders," Montoya said. "They're living through us when we dance."

The sports and cultural celebration started Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High. More than 7,000 American Indian athletes are competing.

"It's important the mainstream know how hard they work," said Red Feather Woman, an American Indian singer.

Today is the last day for the athletes to compete for medals in track and field, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, golf, lacrosse, softball, soccer, swimming, taekwondo, wrestling and volleyball.

The free events are being held at high schools, parks and athletic facilities in Denver, Aurora, Parker, Littleton, Lakewood and Colorado Springs.

The closing ceremony will be in Skyline Park at 16th and Arapahoe streets at 1 p.m. Saturday

Coach Dan Otero brought about 80 young athletes to the events from Laguna, N.M. His team boasted 11 medals in cross- country events, he said.

On Thursday, his team took in the cultural events downtown and swapped pins with other tribal members. Otero, 49, sported pins from tribes in North Dakota and Alberta.

"This is a great thing that all these different tribes and different people come together for this," he said. "And it means a lot, especially for the kids."

Staff writer Manny Gonzales contributed to this report.