Missing at the Olympics opener...

[ronstew]

There is a good reason for the native peoples theme throughout these games. In BC, there is a lot of land that is claimed by various native groups but is held by non-natives. The games themselves are in lands that had traditionally been homes to four different peoples. By bringing these groups on-board, the organisers eliminated native protests.

Personally, even though it was expedient, I consider it to be a worthy approach. And I will admit that I may be overly cynical.

p.s. I use the word native because I cannot spell aboriginal.

[Ozark Ridge Rider]

p.s. I use the word native because I cannot spell aboriginal.

Maybe not, but I think you nailed it.

[robthehiker]

I too was surprised by the lack of Chinese representation and was taken aback by the amount of Celtic representation.

[Zardoz]

I too was surprised by the lack of Chinese representation and was taken aback by the amount of Celtic representation.

Interesting, and you have a point. From what I read on a brief cruise around the interweb , Chinese Canadians account for just under 4% of Canadians, and Aboriginal peoples about the same percentage. So yeah I'd guess the Chinese were under-repesented. On the other hand over 15% of Canadians identify as being of Scottish heritage, and Irish 14%.

[robthehiker]

Interesting, and you have a point. From what I read on a brief cruise around the interweb , Chinese Canadians account for just under 4% of Canadians, and Aboriginal peoples about the same percentage. So yeah I'd guess the Chinese were under-repesented. On the other hand over 15% of Canadians identify as being of Scottish heritage, and Irish 14%.

True, but Chinese Canadians account for almost 10% of the population of British Columbia and 19% of the population of Vancouver. Scots account for 16% of the Vancouver population.

With a population of 400,000, Chinese Canadians are Vancouver's second largest ethnic group after the English (with 480,000).

And as Raphael noted, they built the railway.

[JSFMACLJR]

Post Deleted.

[Lyle1]

I think we should go back to the simple opening ceremonies. Set up some bleachers outdoors, let a runner or skier come in with a torch, light the torch, start the athletic events. The Olympics is about the celebration of sport, not how much more elaborate a country can make the opening ceremonies than the last country who did it. The vast sums spent on the ceremonies could be better spent in providing better facilities and accomodations for the athletes that are attending, imagine this....making the tickets affordable so people of lesser means can attend.

I was stunned when they mentioned how much the production cost, and I think they said it was cheaper than some. I did wonder how that money could be better spent. On the other side, I imagine that it pumped a lot of money into the companies that created the show and provided the workmen.

[Lallans]

If we want to get really deeply into it, First Nations people are descended from Asians who crossed the Bering Straits area into North America and, if you believe recent theories, were met up by European stone age peoples who in turn crossed over the ice age ice bridge that spanned the Atlantic in that era. So everyone was covered! But darn it, starting back circa 1500 the Hudsons Bay Company consitantly hired Scots to man their trading posts, presumably because they were used to living in cold and isolated communities (and liked money ), and those guys often if not generally married into the native communities.

Cultural bias aside, another thing that got me thinking about the missing 'pipes was the sight of the chief Vancouver organizer doing a TV studio interview while wearing a very large and out-of-place tartan scarf (looked like Hunting Stewart but no doubt I'm wrong)- so I was wondering if that was because the Vancouver Scottish community was het up in general. Amongst my circle of friends where I live the concensus is that the pipes were considered too overpowering, and possibly that there was also a certain English (as in England the country) bias at work. Maybe the closing ceremonies...!

[ronstew]

Although there is a Scottish Cultural Centre in Vancouver, you really could not say that there is a Scottish community here. The vast majority of people with last names like Stewart will identify themselves as Canadian.

And to say that there is a Chinese community is an oversimplification. Likewise for the Indian (from India) community, etc, etc.

The city really is multicultural, but the sons and daughters of immigrants tend to adopt most aspects of the Vancouver culture. It is common for these people to continue with their grandparents' religion, but to know only the English language.

Also, remember that the Canadian government is a major sponsor of these games, so the opening ceremonies had to be pan-Canadian.

[MrShoe]

The Fiddling portion with the plaid was intended to be a representation of the Eastern Coastal Canadians, specifically influence by George Street in St Johns, Newfoundland. From what I know Traditional Newfoundland folk music is Celtic/sea side shanty based to include fiddle, bodhrán, tin whistle, and squeeze box(which can give a sound not unlike pipes)

Below is information I found on the Newfoundland Heritage site www.heritage.nf.ca

"Scottish involvement with Newfoundland and Labrador dates back to the early 17th century, when English colonizers established a handful of year-round settlements on the island, but were largely unsuccessful in attracting settlers from that area. Scotland later established trade links with Newfoundland and Labrador in the early 18th century, after it joined with England in 1707 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain. However, it was not until the 19th century that Scottish migrants settled at Newfoundland and Labrador in significant numbers. The 1857 Census (the first to enumerate Scots) recorded 416 Scottish-born people living on the island, the precise number of Scots who emigrated to Newfoundland and Labrador during the 19th century is unknown, due in large part to incomplete or vague census records, parish records, and other data. Although vastly outnumbered by settlers of English and Irish descent, Scottish immigrants were often among the most influential members of society and contributed much to the development of Newfoundland and Labrador's politics, economy, and culture.


"It was a substantial migration, peaking in the 1770's and 1780's when more than 100 ships and 5,000 men cleared Irish ports for the fishery. The exodus from Ulster to America excepted, it was the most substantial movement of Irish across the Atlantic in the 18th century. 1836 the government in St. John's commissioned a census that exceeded in its detail anything recorded to that time. More than 400 settlements were listed. The Irish, and their offspring, composed half the total population. Close to three-quarters of them lived in St. John's and its near hinterland, from Renews to Carbonear. There were probably more Catholic Irish concentrated in this relatively restricted stretch of shore than in any comparable Canadian space.In Newfoundland they created a distinctive subculture through the 18th century that is still evident"

"Chinese, Lebanese, Jewish, and immigrants of other ethnicities also arrived at Newfoundland and Labrador during the 19th century, but in significantly smaller numbers than those from the British Isles."