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GROUP WANTS AMERICAN INDIAN NATION FOR THE OLYMPICS
Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) - An Indian organization plans to ask the
International Olympic Committee to recognize American Indians in the U.S.
and Canada as a separate nation to compete in the Olympic Games.
United Now Indian Olympic Nation, or UNION, is hoping for
recognition in time to field athletes for the 1996 SUmmer Games in Atlanta.
Its petition could go to the Olympic committee by the end of this year.
The eight-month old organization cited the Olympic committee rulings
that allowed seven new nations from former republics in the Soviet Union and
Yugoslavia to compete in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona.
But perhaps the strongest argument for a separate Indian team lies in
the U.S. territories of Puerto RIco and the Virgin Islands, which have long
competed as independent countries, UNION said. The 1991 Olympic charter also
contains a provision stating that for purposes of competition, "country"
means "any country, state, territory or part of a territory" the Olympic
committee chooses to recognize, said UNION's west coast director, Steve Lopez.
A spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee told "The ALbuquerque
Tribune" that the internationl committee has rejected the idea in the past
because Indians are U.S. citizens who can compete on the U.S. team.
Lopez, Needles, Calif., and UNION's midwest director, Edward
Lohnes, Minneapolis, said that "many young Indians have been kept from competing
in Olympic trials by economic factors, isolated reservations and tha fact
that they may not have gone to college so their athletic potential was never
noticed. Given the opportunity, I truly believe they can be competitive."
He also said the push for a separate team is based on the fact INdians
are the only people in the United States put on reservations and separated by
the federal government.
"In our own legal terms, Indian nations are nations within a nation...
Based on that fact alone, I don't see any problem getting recognition," said
Lohnes, a Sioux-Chippewa Indian who is a former boxer.
Lopez, a Mohave tribe journalist and wheelchair athlete, said
Indian groups and leaders who have heard aboiut the effort are very supportive.
"Each individual we've talked to has said, "It's about time; this is really
good. It's an opportunity to have pride within ourselves'," he said.
UNION plans to seek formal support for the effort from the National
COngress of American Indians in June and from federally recognized tribes later
this year, the steering committee said.
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Lisa A. Mitten 207 Hillman Library
Social Sciences Bibliographer University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Bitnet: lmitten@pittvms 412-648-7723
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