Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about this weekend. I happened to drive to Gameti for the first annual John D. Quitte Men's Hand Game Tournament. I truly appreciated the invitation of the Tlicho chiefs that encouraged me to go there, and more particularly, I want to thank Chief Wedawin for his personal welcome to his community.
I drove that winter road and I have to say it was a wonderful experience, unlike some of my experiences on Highway No. 7, of course, but that’s a story for another day. Several community members said that they look forward to the year that their winter road becomes a real highway, and they look forward to seeing that in the capital plan with some real money behind it.
Even though I drove the winter road and it took about four and a half hours to get there, the drive was certainly well worth every moment of it. The community of Gameti was very welcoming from the moment I got there. When I got there I ran into Minister Jackson Lafferty, who was enjoying the games himself.
From the moment I stepped into the community hall, the hand games were being played and it was full of excitement from everyone. It was tremendously exciting to see the energy of our youth, and it was obvious to me the joy of those young at heart who were having a fantastic time. Mr. Speaker, that’s a nice way of describing the elders.
The Tlicho region, like all our northern regions, does such a wonderful job of putting on their community events and their cultural games. This was no exception. While I was there, they gave me an opportunity to speak and address the crowd, and I made sure I underscored how important these community events are to instilling culture and language in our people.
I even got to do a little drumming, although I don’t know if I’ll be welcomed back to drum again. But I certainly had a great time doing the drumming.
In closing, I want to say that I would describe that, with my modest experience around hand games, I didn’t get to play this time, but I would certainly say it is the excuse for the future for me to attend my next event. I want to finish by saying this is a breathtaking opportunity that I would encourage all
Northerners to get involved and enjoy the culture that’s around us. It’s an experience you’ll remember for a lifetime. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.