Vancouver, British Columbia will host the 2010 Olympics. British Columbia is largely unceded and non-surrendered Indigenous territories. The Olympics has been deemed a massive land grab by local native groups who attest to the increasing displacement of their communtities, the on-going ecological destruction, and the continuing hidden Genocide in Canada.

It is a multi-billion dollar industry backed by powerful elites - real estate, construction, hotel, tourism, television corporations - who work hand in hand with government officials and members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Learn about why Indigenous people and their allies are resisting the 2010 Olympic Games in this 5 part series of a presentation made by Gord Hill and Angela Sterritt, indigenous members of the Olympic Resistance Network. The talk was given on May 20, 2008 at the Native Friendship Center of Montreal, Quebec.

Part 1 presents the history of Colonialism in Canada, and the history of the Olympics Games:

The modern Olympics have a long history of racism, from its early founding members (i.e., Pierre de Coubertin, a French Baron who advocated sports as a means of strengthening colonialism) to recent IOC presidents. The 1936 Berlin Olympics empowered Hitler’s Nazi regime. In August 2008, board member of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), and vice-chancellor of McGill University, stated: "We must not forget that 400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages, with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants of European descent, while in China, we're talking about a 5,000-year-old civilization."

To find out more about activities and actions, please visit the Olympic Resistance Network website at no2010.com

Filmmaker: Sarita

Filmmaker Contact:

 

sarita [at] isuma [dot] tv

Producer's Name: Ahooja

Year of Production: 2008

Country: Canada

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