Wednesday was a cloudy day with a little drizzle in the air, but good conditions for the canoe racers on Lake Banook as part of the North American Indigenous Games.
"I've been waiting three years for NAIG and now that it's finally here is amazing," said Cole Prosper, a member of team Mi'kmaw Nova Scotia canoe and kayak team.
This is the first time that a Mi'kmaw team is competing in the traditional canoe and kayak event, which is a breakthrough moment for Prosper and his teammates to represent Nova Scotia on their home lake.
"Being part of the first team is something special and when the next NAIG comes around I'm hoping that I can be a coach," said Prosper, a 17 year-old from We'koqma'q First Nation in Nova Scotia.
Prosper originally wanted to play on the basketball team but tore his ACL in his left knee. His doctor told him he needed to choose a lower-impact sport, so he got into canoe.
"It just brings me peace being out on the water," said Prosper. "It reminds me of my grandfather. He used to race when he was younger."
With just seven athletes competing, team Mi'kmaw is one of the smaller teams racing on the waters.
Cadence and Callum Whynchat row out of the Sackawa Canoe Club in Lower Sackville, and were eager to represent team Mi'kmaw at the NAIG.
Both have taken home a gold medal already in individual race events, but today were competing together in the 1,000m canoe 2 race where they looked to help build their team's medal count.
"Ideally, I'd like to get to the Olympics eventually," said Callum.
The 14 year-old is getting a lot of races under his belt at the NAIG games, one positive from being on a smaller team.
"It's been great so far," he said, "I'm getting into a lot of races in and getting a lot of one-on-one coaching."
Cadence is at the top of her U-12 division and says the races here at NAIG are testing her endurance, the races are longer than what she's used to paddling with her club in Lower Sackville.
"We only usually do five hundredths and so it's new to race a thousand in single boats," said Cadence.
Other members of team Mi'kmaw include Hannah Mills, Malik Stevens, and sisters Katerra and Katalina Young.
Head coach Jake Jeannot says even though they are one of the smallest teams competing on the water they are helping pave the way forward for future athletes to take up the sport.
"To have our team here and to finally be able to represent and not to mention come home with some hardware is great," said Jeannot. "We're just hoping we can keep the ball rolling and build it up for the next three years and into the next event."
The canoe and kayak competition wraps up Thursday.
