The John D. Quitte Men’s Handgames Tournament in Gameti brought together 32 teams vying for a $100,000 prize pot.
“Everybody had fun, I had fun, so no complaints,” said Peter John Apples, one of the organizers, who spent months helping to plan the event. “Everything turned out pretty good.”
The tournament took place March 15-17 in the Tlicho community of just under 300 people.
The top two teams were both from Gameti, while the third came from another Tlicho community in Behchoko, but competitors visited from as far away as Yukon and Alberta. The top team earned $30,000 while second place got $20,000 and third place was awarded $15,000. The remainder of the prize money was split among the fourth to eighth place teams.
“There are a lot of people that came out with their own vehicles and they brought in their family and their kids,” said Apples. “It was very exciting.
“I’m pretty happy with my community.”
It was indeed a community effort.
Not only were there many people helping out with the games themselves, but a team of local cooks prepared roughly 300 plates of food for the participants and spectators.
“That’s a lot of plates,” Apples said, laughing. “The cooks were pretty busy making sure there was food to eat for all the players or whoever wants to go to the school have something to eat.”
In addition to the games, the event featured traditional drum dancing and some poker games for anyone eager to play cards.
Apples also expressed his happiness that everyone “made it home safe.”
Handgames are a longstanding tradition among Dene people in the NWT. While some traditions are slowly disappearing, that does not appear to be true in this case.
That’s great to see, according to Apples, and a testament to the work of former Tlicho grand chief and dedicated handgames organizer and player George Mackenzie.
“George Mackenzie is the one who got these Tlicho handgames tournaments started, going from community to community,” Apples said, extending a “big thank you” to the former grand chief.
“Handgames is about our cultural way of life and teaching our young ones to carry that on, so mahsi cho to him.”