The Olympic torch will pass through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation Monday, with a welcoming ceremony at Turtle Arena on Cornwall Island in the St. Lawrence River, on its way to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
The torch is going to make a stop with each of the aboriginal First Nation tribes in Canada. The St. Regis Mohawk Reservation straddles the U.S.-Canada border.
About 1,000 children will be coming in from all the Akwesasne schools, including the St. Regis Mohawk school in Hogansburg, said event coordinator Tim Thompson.
Akwesasne resident Aronhiaies Herne, 23, was selected by the Olympic committee to be an aboriginal flame attendant. He trained in Vancouver, then was selected with one other aboriginal flame attendant to fly to Greece on behalf of the Olympic organizing committee to pick up the flame, Thompson said. When he brought it back he met Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell.
Herne then met up with the torch in New Brunswick on Nov. 24 and will travel with it until Dec. 24, when it reaches Thunder Bay, Ontario, Thompson said. He is responsible for preparing each of the torches as they're lit and the flame is transferred.
Herne will be with the envoy that will bring the flame onto the reservation Monday.
The festivities kick off at 10:45 a.m., when the Akwesasne skating club will perform a figure-skating demonstration and the Akwesasne Minor Hockey Association will play an exhibition hockey game.
At noon, there will be a community social with lunch for the students and a showing of a video on details of the Olympics, like the design of the medals and the making of the torch.
At 12:45, spectators will begin to line up on the road to the arena in anticipation of the coming of the torch, which is tentatively scheduled to arrive at about 1:10 p.m.
The Akwesasne Community Organizing Committee chose Mike Benedict Jr., 38, to carry the flame into the arena, where a 15-minute traditional ceremony will be performed to welcome the torch. Erin Seymour, 26, a teacher at the Akwesasne Mohawk school, was chosen to carry the torch out.
The ceremonies are open to the public.
