That's actually sort of funny on the Calgary medals. They actually depict first nation's people, at least in some cartoonish fashion.
There is one thing that bugs me about people's complaint about the first nation's influence in the designs - which I've only seen in the press with a political slant . . . no one I've talked to actually seems to care a wit about it. My complaint is that the medals and themes are representing concepts, such as the Orca and the Raven on the medal designs. They aren't honouring individuals or some political movement.
Complaining about the first nation's influence in the games is sort of like complaining about the spirit of giving or the concept of bravery. All cultures create myths and tales and metaphors for different aspects of human nature - good and bad - and have explanations and representations of spirit and creation. The fact that the Vancouver Olympics reached back to representations of commonly shared beliefs as depicted by inhabitants of the land here for dozens of generations seems fairly fitting. I suspect it is a fairly common tradition carried over from past Olympics.
It's not like they stamped all the medals with an individual or depict first nation's people sitting around a lodge in the visual depictions. The design team simply elected to use their symbology to communicate some rather universal human beliefs for our Games. What were they supposed to do . . . use images of Greek mythology? Would that have meant they were honouring the Greeks over the British. I suppose they could have gotten all Anglo-Saxon on us . . . aren't there a few cave drawings left in the UK? Does anyone know what they mean?
I think people have completely forgotten the concept of mythology and symbols and metaphors. Or they just conveniently ignore them to revel in their own base and petty complaints.
That's my philosophical commentary of the day. Now I'll go back to snipping and barking, I guess
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