Athletes race in massive York boats as part of northern Manitoba festival

Norway House Cree Nation is celebrating the return of its annual summer festival where rowers will compete in a uniquely Manitoban event: York boat racing.

From Aug. 4-13, Norway House will host Treaty and York Boats Days, a 10-day event featuringgames, sporting tournaments, competitions, dances, musical acts, and highly anticipated York boat races.

This year marks the 50th anniversary since the festival began. Community members from Cross Lake First Nation, Oxford House First Nation, Island Lake, Fisher River Cree Nation and other communities will be in attendance.

"We wanted to make it a big celebration for our community and our visitors across Manitoba," said Ed Albert, a councillor for Norway House Cree Nation.

York boats which Albert said are about 12 metres long and four metreswide were often paddled to and from York Factory and Norway House carrying furs and other supplies.

Albert said the York boats replaced canoes, since they were able to carry more weight and more people, including eight rowers, one steersmanand one caller, he said.

The York boat race stretches 10 kilometres and wraps around some islands in the area.

Alberta said the race is "an experience in itself," and reminds the community about the determination of the people who used the boatscenturies before them.

"They want to remember ... our ancestors, how hard they worked to get from one location to the other," he said.

The festival is meant to honour the community's history during the fur trade, when the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company established a fur trading post where Norway House Cree Nation now stands at the north end of Lake Winnipeg along the eastern channel of the Nelson River.

The post served as a storage facility for York Factory, which sits at the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay.

Seventy-year-old Larry Duncan, who's from Norway House Cree Nation, has competed in the York boat races for more than 30 years.

While Duncan won't be competing this year, he said he's looking forward to watching from the shoreline.

The sounds of oars hitting the water, rowers grunting after every stroke and the speed at which the boats take off are a "sight to see," Duncan said.

While everyone has their own technique, they all share the common need to work together as a team.

"It's a team effort. They need to work in unison," he said. "Whatever stroke you pick and the effort you put in there, that's what's gonna make the boat move."

He hopes racers are ready for the physical and mental battle that York boat racing brings.

"It's a grueling race, it's a really tough race, but I want them to enjoy their time in Norway House."