2023 North American Indigenous Games Opening Ceremony
Celebration and Sport from across Turtle Island
The Opening Ceremony of the 2023 North American Indigenous Games in Halifax, Nova Scotia brought together over 5,000 youth athletes, coaches and team staff from over 750 Indigenous Nations.
Working very closely with local cultural representatives and elders, PRP developed a show that represented both the traditional and the new of the host nation of Mi’kma’ki. Featured segments included a creative production of the Ko’Jua dance: this version of the traditional Mi’kmaq social dance involved full audience participation. Clappers were distributed to all 12,000 attendees including athletes, and all were encouraged to participate as one. The segment ended with award-winning Mi’kmaw fiddler, Morgan Toney’s version of the Ko’Jua. A trilingual version of the National Anthem (English, French and Mi’Kmaw) was sung by Kalolin Johnson, and performances by young, award-winning Mi’kmaq musicians: DeeDee Austin, Emma Stevens and Devon Paul provided high energy, inspiration and relevance for the young audience and were interwoven between dignitary speeches involving Prime Minister Trudeau, the Premier of Nova Scotia, Tim Houston and the Mayor of Halifax, Mike Savage.