"Pan Am Fever grips New Credit, host nation for the games"

History was made last Friday as the PanAm torch made its way to the New Credit territory in a celebration that marked the significance of the community's status as Host First Nation of the games.

The excitement reached fever pitch as hundreds of people and a dozen dignitaries waited for that flaming torch to make its way to the powwow grounds and onto the stage, where two special young runners were given the honour of lighting the cauldron.

The huge crowd cheered loudly as the featured torch bearers of the celebration Cameron Sault, who plays hockey for the Senior AAA Brantford Blast, and 13-year-old Ryann Laforme, a volleyball and basketball player, lit the cauldron.

Friday marked the torch's halfway point on its 20,000 km journey from Teotihuacan, Mexico to Toronto, where it will arrive on July 10, 2015, culminating in the lighting of the cauldron and opening ceremonies that will kick off the official opening of the games.

New Credit Chief Bryan LaForme is thrilled at their recognition as Host First Nation.

"It's an opportunity for us to showcase our culture to the world," he said.

Friday marked the first official speech of newly-elected Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day.

"It's an honour and a privilege to be here," said Day. "It's my first official speaking engagement and what a terrific engagement to be allowed to come to and participate in."

He said since the Pan American Games and the history of the games are central to the land and this continent. "It really is high time the torch and the games focus on the recognition of the first people. That's essentially what's happening here today. What an amazing event."

Olympian polo player Waneek Horn-Miller, who hails from the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, co-hosted the ceremonies with iconic sportscaster Ron MacLean, host of the beloved nationwide program Hockey Night in Canada from 1987 to 2014. Horn-Miller said it was important to honour the indigenous athletes playing in the games this year.

"They need your support," she told the crowd. "They need to see your faces out in the stands, cheering them on. It means a lot. I remember at the PanAm Games when I saw native people cheer me on - I played for them."

Perhaps the most poignant moment in the ceremonies came when the original "Frontrunners" were honoured for their role in the 1967 Pan American Games.

The Frontrunners are a group of 10 indigenous men, all residential school survivors just barely out of high school, who ran the torch from Milwaukee to Winnipeg, only to be told they weren't allowed to carry the torch into the stadium.

They had to wait at a pub down the street while a non-native man was given the honour of bringing the torch into the stadium in Winnipeg.

Four of those men, most of them now in their 60s, were honoured at Friday's ceremonies with a standing ovation.

Charlie Bitten, Bill Chippeway, Charlie Nelson and William Merasty finally got the recognition they deserved.

Indigenous athletes from Canada participating in the games this year include:

Six Nations athlete Carey Leigh Thomas is an alternate on the Canadian Women's Softball team.

Jaimie Thibeault of the T'Souke First Nation in British Columbia, is representing Canada on the women's senior volleyball team.

The games will also serve as an important opportunity for the Mississauga people to unite, said New Credit Chief Bryan LaForme.

Chief Reg Niganobe, of the Mississauga First Nation near Blind River, was also at the games to celebrate the Mississaugas status as Host First Nation.

Both he and LaForme said the games will serve as an opportunity to unite all the Mississauga Nations - Blind River, New Credit, Hiawatha, Scugog, Alderville and Curve Lake.

"It's an opportunity to bring us all together as one nation again," said LaForme. "We're working on that. We're hoping in the next few years, we'll be working as one nation."

Other dignitaries at Friday's event included former Ontario Premier and now PanAm Games CEO David Petersen and Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Zimmer.