Bringing home silver among his accomplishments

Qualifying for the Alberta 55+ Summer Games for Willie Littlechild came earlier in the year, but the last couple of weeks leading up to the actual games in Fairview started in Geneva at the United Nations on July 9. International Chief Littlechild sits as a member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples representing Western Europe, USA and Canada; he participated in a number of meetings addressing issues on behalf of the Indigenous peoples of the world throughout the week; as well as traveling to and from Lausanne to give support to his granddaughter Summer Sage Littlechild who was competing at an international gymnastics event held every four years with teams from over 65 countries.

Leaving the meetings in Geneva, traveling with his family to London to ensure they returned home safely, and wearing the hat of “Commissioner Littlechild of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the Indian Residential Schools,” he boarded a flight from London Heathrow to New York City on July 17 to participate but ended up chairing portions of another international justice meeting on Truth and Reconciliation Commissions from July 19-21.  Over the course of these days, Commissioner Littlechild brought insight to the activities undertaken by the TRC of Canada in bringing forward the stories of the survivors and families from the Indian Residential School era in order to assist in bringing justice of those wrongly abused during that dark time for Indigenous peoples in Canadian history.

With his portion of the work concluded, and now the athlete Willie Littlechild sprinted from the meeting to LaGuardia International airport for a quick flight to Edmonton on July 21, where he rushed over to catch the last flight of the evening to Grand Prairie.  He awoke early the next day and drove the last hour and a half to Fairview arriving at 7:45 a.m. to compete in the Alberta 55+ Summer Games in the Men’s 65+ swimming events over the next two days!

During the weeks leading up to the Games when other swimmers were training vigorously, he had to fit in training whenever he could find a pool. Often his travel with the TRC took him into remote communities throughout Canada where training facilities were not always available.

And in those last couple of weeks getting to the games Willie had to cross several time zones, worked full days often into the wee hours of the morning, and supported his granddaughter and he walked away from the games toting four silver medals, two fourth place finishes and a relay team win in the swimming categories!  He gained 38 individual points for the Zone 4 team.

Willie Littlechild has put his whole life towards advocating for the rights of Indigenous peoples, not only for First Nations but for all Indigenous peoples throughout the world.  By serving on the TRC, he brings first hand experience to the role of Commissioner. He used sports as a means to deal with the experiences he had during the 14 years attending residential schools. As a member of seven Sports Hall of Fame, he still is not only competing but “winning.”  Willie was awarded the Order of Canada, is the first lawyer of First Nation ancestry in Alberta, served as a Member of Parliament for Wetaskiwin-Rimby, served on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, is one of the authors of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is the International Chief of Treaty No. 6 and Honorary Chief of the Maskwacîs Cree. Willie is a positive role model from the Ermineskin Cree Nation and the community of Hobbema, a warrior in the truest sense of the word.