North American Indigenous Games COVID-19 vaccine policy leaves some athletes to sit out

Some coaches and teams heading to this summer's North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) are calling for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate to be lifted.

"To not let these kids go that are not vaccinated, I don't think that's fair," said Mike Benedict, head coach of Team Eastern Door and the North's U-19 boys lacrosse team.

"Every kid should be able to compete."

Team Eastern Door and the North (EDN) is sending around 300 athletes from First Nations and Inuit communities in Quebec to the games, which are set to take place July 15-23 in Halifax and Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia.

Benedict, who is from Akwesasne, a Kanien'kehá:ka community on the Quebec, Ontario, and New York state borders, said if the mandate isn't lifted, it will severely impact his team. He said his coaching staff agreed to boycott the games if a solution is not met.

"As coaches, we're supporting our team, we're supporting our players, and if they can't go because of that needle, then we shouldn't go either," he said.

"They tried and they made the team, and they have a right to be there — and we're going to sit [out] along with those kids."

The mandate is also a concern for Karonhiio Curotte from Kahnawà:ke, a Kanien'kehá:ka community south of Montreal, who is coaching EDN's archery team. He will potentially lose three out of the six archers on the team.

Curotte is a first responder in his community and knows the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine, but questions who is guiding NAIG's vaccine policy, as similar mandates have been lifted for other sporting events in Canada, including the recent Arctic Winter Games and the Canada Winter Games.

"I don't know what kind of information [NAIG is] using ... or who they're listening to," he said. 

"But the reality