Italy’s ancient Ladin minority, who settled a millennium ago in the Dolomite hamlet now known as Cortina d’Ampezzo, are expressing profound disappointment as the upcoming Winter Olympics fail to acknowledge their unique culture.
Despite the city hosting the Games for a second time, this ethnolinguistic group feels overlooked, prompting them to launch their own initiatives to showcase their heritage across Ladinia, their five-valley, three-territory region.
Ladin leaders had anticipated that Milan Cortina Olympics organisers would reach out to feature their language and traditions, which are unique to Italy, mirroring the approach taken by previous host cities from Lillehammer to Beijing. However, their expectations were unmet.
A letter sent by the mayors of all 17 Ladin towns, soliciting representation, received no reply. Elsa Zardini, head of the Ladin community in Cortina, articulated their frustration: "We are cut out, as if we don't exist."
The Ladins, renowned wood carvers and stewards of the forest, have inhabited the Dolomites for 2,000 years. Their rich folklore includes the legend of Laurin, king of the dwarfs, whose curse is said to have bestowed the region's dramatic pale limestone peaks with their distinctive pinkish sunset glow.
For religious ceremonies, they don traditional costumes, including colourful dresses and elaborate headpieces for women. Ladin is a Romance language, a blend of Latin and ancient Rhaetic, now listed as endangered by the UN’s cultural agency, with only 35,000 speakers globally.
Approximately 2,500 of these reside in Cortina, constituting half the town’s population.
Unlike previous Games, where indigenous cultures were celebrated – such as the Arctic Sami people in Lillehammer in 1994 or Indigenous Australian Cathy Freeman lighting the cauldron in Sydney in 2000 – the Milan Cortina opening ceremony on 6 February will not feature the Ladins.
Local organisers confirmed the 2 1/2 hour event would instead celebrate "Italian beauty and culture," encompassing fashion, design, and music. Marco Balich, the opening ceremony’s creative director, told The Associated Press: "We want to celebrate those elements that have been exported all over the world."
This perceived slight follows a history of tension.
The 1956 Olympics significantly transformed Cortina from a Ladin-majority town into a luxury resort, replete with high-end boutiques.
Today, Ladins struggle to retain inherited property due to increased values and corresponding inheritance taxes, leading many young families to move away and threatening the cultural fabric.
For the upcoming official Olympic events, Ladins will have only two minor appearances: a pair in traditional dress at the torch arrival, invited by the town but unpictured by the local organising committee, and a small costumed parade before the main ceremony, which officials confirmed would not be broadcast globally.
Ms Zardini lamented: "It's really not much. Yes, there will be someone in our costumes – our costumes will be seen. We had other goals, to highlight that we are a linguistic minority and to explain our culture, but that is not the case."
Consequently, the Ladin community is taking matters into their own hands to raise their profile. Ms Zardini is distributing Ladin flags – their azure, white, and green colours representing the sky, snow, and meadows of their mountain landscapes – for display during the Games. She clarified her intention: "It isn’t so much a protest as a welcome, so visitors realize that the people living here speak a certain language and has its own traditions. That is our intention. And then, some have, of course, displayed it in protest."
An umbrella group representing six Ladin communities has prepared mini-dictionaries of Ladin terms translated into five languages for Olympic visitors, according to its president, Roland Verra.
Examples include "Nief" for snow and, for the more adventurous, "Juesc Olimpics da d’ivern" for Winter Games.
The General Ladin Union of the Dolomites has also produced a video, with English subtitles, detailing their history from Roman conquest to their region becoming part of Italy in 1919, which will be screened on a loop in front of Cortina's Town Hall.
In Trentino, Ladins are preparing an event featuring Ladin music and literature, hoping to attract tourists. Mr Verra sees this as "a great opportunity to represent the ancient legends that would certainly be very well seen, very spectacular."
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