VANOC board member Dick Pound has apologized for remarks that some interpreted as meaning First Nations people were "savages" 400 years ago. The comments, given to a newspaper earlier this year, sparked a public outcry.

"I apologize for any unintentional harm that was caused, absolutely," he said. "That was not my intention in any way, shape or form."

Pound, former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, made his remarks while defending the decision to hold the 2008 Olympics in China, despite the country's questionable human rights record.

He said: "We must not forget that 400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages, with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants of European descent, while in China, we're talking about a 5,000-year-old civilization."

Pound was speaking in French and used the term "pays de sauvage," commonly used by the Jesuits at the time to describe First Nations people. He said the term does not necessarily carry the same connotations as the English word "savages."

"That is the term (pays de sauvage) that has been used in French which means something entirely different than savages in English for close to 400 years," he told The Canadian Press.

"It's fallen out of favour now and I probably should have been more alert to the change in vocabulary. It's not derogatory."

Pound made the controversial comments to the Montreal-based LaPresse newspaper on Aug. 9. But they only sparked controversy in the past few days when it emerged that a Quebec native rights group had complained to the International Olympic Committee.

On Tuesday, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell told the Globe and Mail that the remarks were "totally unacceptable" and that Pound should resign from his position on the VANOC board of directors.

"It's a disgraceful comment," Campbell told the newspaper.

Native groups also rallied against Pound's remarks. In a statement on the website for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said Pound should quit his role as chancellor of McGill University.

"A man of Mr. Pound's stature and experience should have known better," Phillip said in the statement. "As a measure of genuine remorse and reconciliation, Mr. Pound must resign."

He said the group stands by calls from Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, in initially calling for Pound to step down.

In a statement Friday, the AFNQL called on McGill to officially sanction Pound.

"Mr. Pound should himself understand the immense discourtesy of his remarks and offer to resign," Picard said in the statement.

"Contrary to the beliefs of Richard Pound, the First Nations of Quebec are descendant from great societies that have occupied the territory of Quebec for more than 5,000 years. Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, America was inhabited by nations that lived in well-organized societies. We were not mere herds."

Phillip said Pound's handling of the fallout from his comments shows an even greater lack of judgement.

"The UBCIC finds Mr. Pound's attempt to deflect the seriousness of his blatantly racist remarks as clumsy, insincere and completely unacceptable," he said.