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| By Manager Online | 4 February 2010 14:00 |
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February 4, 2010
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - Canadian aboriginals eager to promote their culture at the upcoming Winter Games on their ancestral lands lamented on Wednesday that some "authentic First Nations" souvenirs were made in China, Italy or Thailand.
These include native art and traditional clothes.
Tewanee Joseph, director of the Four Host First Nations, representing area aboriginals, says it is not a problem.
"The design was created by authentic First Nations," he told AFP. "The Four Host Nations created the whole aboriginal mark of the Games and we are truly authentic aboriginal people."
But Shain Jackson, distributor of West Coast aboriginal art, disagrees.
He launched an online petition at trulyauthentic.wordpress.com to denounce foreign made souvenirs stamped with a First Nations seal and urge Games organizers to heed his concerns.
"We make authentic aboriginal products. We distributed them and the benefits go back to our communities who are the poorest and the most marginalized in Canada," said Jackson, a former aboriginal rights lawyer.
Profits from the sale of the Vancouver Games native souvenirs will be rolled into a fund to help young Canadian natives, particularly hurt by chronic health woes, poor education and unemployment, Joseph commented.
Tourists strolling around Vancouver's historic Gastown neighborhood will also find galleries filled with aboriginal sculptures and souvenir shops selling items inspired by native designs, but also made in China.
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