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Indigenous athletes from around the world

join the championship to Brazil

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More than two thousand athletes representatives of indigenous peoples from 30 countries join this year in Brazil, for the first edition of the World Games representing tribes and native places.

The Brazilian city of Palmas, State of Tocantins (northern) will host the first World Games of Indigenous Peoples, between 18 and 27 September this year.

The event will take Olympic sports such as athletics and football, but also traditional and native modes, such as running log, the power cord, the rustic canoeing or physical fights.

Brazil already hold national games of Indigenous Peoples since 1996, under the organization Intertribal Committee Memory and Indigenous Science (ITC), but this is the first time the event will have an international reach.

Marcos Terena, the ITC said that the idea of organizing the World Games was born after several meetings with other indigenous peoples.

"There is a curiosity of other countries, an expectation regarding indigenous games with traditional methods and linked to spirituality, that only happen in Brazil," said Lusa.

According to Marcos Terena, to come into contact with natives of other countries, such as Canada, which have a very large contact with Western society, the invitation is also a way to promote the history and culture of ancient peoples.

Among the thirty countries are expected at the world account to Australia, the United States or Mexico, but the event still waiting several confirmations.

Only in Brazil should be more than 20 ethnic groups. "We go after the best archers and rowers, to show the physical capacity of the Indian athlete who does not need to attend academies," says ITC member.

Hector Franco, in charge of the Special Secretariat of Indigenous Games Palmas Prefecture, said the event will be a "platform to highlight the existence of indigenous cultures, but also encourage the preservation of ancient cultures and the concept of sustainability."

Indigenous Peoples of the World Games will be another international event held in Brazil between Mundial2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Unlike those events, the world does not take place in large cities and economic centers, but in the small town of Palmas (300 000 inhabitants), located in the Brazilian Amazon region.

The structure for the event, which is being idealized in Palmas since August last year, includes a village for the games, which will encompass both the development of sports as the interaction between the participants.

The budget is 70 million reais (EUR 22 million).

The event, which is supported by the ITC, the municipal government of Palmas and the Brazilian Ministry of Sport. In addition to the competitive and demonstration sports, the Games will include cultural activities, indigenous issues discussions, crafts appreciation, music, dance and other rituals.

"We want to show that the intertribal power contributes to the balance of ethnic groups and the environment, and generates diversity, but not conflict," said Marcos Terena.

Games, according to Terena, will be a message to the Western sports, about the respect that should exist with the "natural physical ability of human beings."

Digital Diary with Lusa

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