From the 2010 Olympics to the World Cup, Vancouver has pioneered Indigenous inclusion

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Scattered among the many big screens airing World Cup matches and the food stands with local fare like poutine, Vancouver's fan festival includes exhibits recognizing the host city's Indigenous communities: the Squamish, the Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

The First Nations have been involved in more than just the fan fest, however. They are partners with the local World Cup organizing committee, drawing on a tradition started at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It's the latest example of how Indigenous inclusion has increasingly figured into big sporting events, from the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Vancouver's goal was to ensure that the First Nations were at the table in the planning process for the World Cup, and ultimately provide a platform that brings awareness to the city's Indigenous communities and creates a lasting legacy.

“What we found in the 2010 Games, and also now, is that one of the main messages is to share the diversity of culture that we have. We’re not all the same, and I think that also we don’t just live in history books, we’re living and thriving today,” said Tewanee Joseph, major sports, entertainment and marquee events secretariat for the Squamish Nation.

Joseph was CEO of the Four Host First Nations for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which took place on the traditional territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam and Lil’Wat nations.

The groups' involvement in the Winter Games marked the first time that Indigenous people were recognized by the International Olympic Committee as official host partners.

Vancouver wasn't the only city to draw Indigenous communities into its World Cup planning. In Seattle, the Puyallup Tribe was an official Presenting Legacy Sponsor of SeattleFWC26, the city's host organization.

Toronto's opening ceremonies for the World Cup included Indigenous dancers and Peguis First Nation musician William Prince, while the fan festival's Tkaronto Market featured local wares and art.

In Mexico, FIFA collaborated with the National Fund for the Promotion of Handicrafts to promote Indigenous artisans on folk art products with soccer themes.

Ahead of this World Cup, FIFA made Indigenous engagement “a central pillar of its sustainability and human rights strategy, promoting respectful collaboration” with communities across all three host countries.

In 2023, FIFA partnered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Unite for Indigenous Peoples campaign.

The initiative was a centerpiece of the 2023 Women's World Cup, hosted by New Zealand and Australia. FIFA, led by a panel of six Indigenous women, ensured both Australia's First Nations and New Zealand's Maori cultures were included.

Indigenous terms were used on all signage and flags were flown at stadiums. In New Zealand, the traditional karanga call of the Māori was performed before each match, while in Australia the pre-game ceremonies included a welcome to country by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander elders.

And it's not just FIFA. Organizers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics drew from the Indigenous history of lacrosse to bring the sport back to the games as a medal event for the first time since 1908.

The Haudenosaunee (formerly known as the Iroquois), are considered the inventors of the sport and have lobbied with their supporters to compete in the LA Games as an independent nation, but so far have been unsuccessful.

Paula Amos of Indigenous Tourism BC said the outreach during the World Cup is vital. Indigenous tourism has a $1.1 billion economic impact to British Columbia each year, according to Destination BC, with 31% of international visitors seeking Indigenous experiences.

“We’re saying once the final whistle blows, that’s not the end of it, because we are here to inspire visitors to want to come back and bring their families back and have an experience, an Indigenous tourism experience,” Amos said. “Vancouver is the great gateway into the province, so we’re using it to make sure that we’re highlighting all areas of the province, so that we make sure that people will come back, but they want to explore more.”

As partners in the planning and staging of the event, each of the three First Nations will receive $6 million for legacy projects. The Squamish plan to build a youth soccer field in West Vancouver.

But the most important legacy is intangible.

“My favorite part is seeing our members from our nation walk the streets of Vancouver, participate at the fan fest, sit here at our own watch events, and the pride that they show because people ask questions about our culture, they ask about how important we are, they let us know that,” Joseph said. “For us, to see our members there, front and center, with their chin up, held high, and being proud. To me, those are so many of the memories I have. It’s really the people and the interaction between the people and the cultures.”

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Tewanee Joseph, the major sports entertainment and marquee events secretariat for the Squamish Nation, and Paula Amos, chief marketing and development officer for Indigenous Tourism BC, watch a World Cup, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Tewanee Joseph, the major sports entertainment and marquee events secretariat for the Squamish Nation, and Paula Amos, chief marketing and development officer for Indigenous Tourism BC, pose for a photo at a watch party during the World Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan addressed her sentencing judge on Wednesday as she faced as much as five years in prison for ushering a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Dugan, 67, was convicted of felony obstruction in December. Her lawyers argued during her trial that President Donald Trump’s administration sought to “crush” Dugan in an effort to ensure judicial compliance with the ICE strategy of targeting immigrants as they showed up for court hearings.

Dugan resigned the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship she had held for nine years in January amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers who labeled her an activist judge. In her resignation letter, she said her prosecution threatened "the independence of our judiciary." Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a fierce Trump loyalist running for Wisconsin governor, urged authorities to “lock her up” in a social media post following her conviction.

The first witness Wednesday was a Marquette University law professor and a Jesuit priest, who read a statement in support of Dugan, describing her as a defender of oppressed people and saying he didn’t believe there was a need for punishment. “Hannah models what it means to be a Christian,” Gregory O'Meara said.

Dugan then rose to address the court, saying she's tried to do her best as a judge, and that her actions that day in April 2025 were not done maliciously but rather to maintain the “decorum and safety of the courtroom.”

"I have been cast as both a scofflaw and a hero. I am neither. I am a public servant who's just trying to do my job,” Dugan said.

Dugan's attorneys argued that as a judge she was immune from prosecution. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, who will hand down the sentence, rejected their attempts to vacate her conviction. While jurors found her guilty of felony obstruction, they acquitted her of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.

Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memo filed last week that Dugan violated her oath as a judge and put both law enforcement and the public at risk.

“Judges are entrusted with tremendous discretion, but there is a line they cannot cross,” Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling wrote. “The defendant crossed that line.”

Dugan’s attorneys argued she has been “punished enough,” including resigning as a judge and facing threats of violence. They argued in her sentencing memo that she should not be sentenced to any jail time besides the part of one day she already spent in federal custody.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, the presentence report calls for 15 to 21 months behind bars. The judge is not bound by those guidelines.

Prosecutors said the average sentence for obstruction cases is 16 months, but they did not recommend a sentence.

“This was a serious offense, and it warrants a correspondingly serious sentence,” Frohling wrote.

No matter what she is sentenced to, Dugan's attorneys said they plan to file an appeal.

Dugan's case marked the first time that a state judge in Wisconsin went to trial on charges of obstructing immigration agents.

On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.

Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge's office, saying their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz.

After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.

Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.

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Associated Press contributors include Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.

FILE - Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan leaves the federal courthouse after a hearing in Milwaukee on May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)