The Birth of the Games

Excerpt from “Inspired by Dreams: Twenty Arctic Winter Games” by Fran Hurcomb

Often, the journey from the conception to the realization of a dream is a long and difficult one. This was certainly true of the birth of the Arctic Winter Games.

The idea originated with Commissioners Stuart Hodgson of the NWT and James Smith of the Yukon, and Bud Orange, Member of Parliament for the NWT, while they watched the first Canada Winter Games in Québec City in 1967. In sport after sport, northern athletes were defeated by more experienced and better funded southern teams. The concept of an event featuring strictly northern athletes grew from an idle comment into a great idea. A phone call to the Alaska State Governor, Walter Hickel, got a very positive response. By the spring of 1968, the Arctic Winter Games Corporation had been formed, uniting the three jurisdictions in an athletic and cultural alliance that still stands strong almost 40 years later.

Yellowknife was chosen to host the first AWG in 1970, in part to help celebrate the centennial of the NWT that year. It was proposed that the Games would take place every two years, with locations changing among participating contingents. Leaders in the Mackenzie Delta agreed to send cultural delegates to demonstrate traditional Arctic Sports as well as dancing and drumming. Billy Day agreed to put together a group of drummers and dancers, and Edward Lennie became the coach for Arctic Sports. In mid-February, only three weeks before the start of the games, the Canadian Government announced that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau would be in Yellowknife to open the Games. As the countdown to the Games progressed, Yellowknife took on a carnival atmosphere. More than 500 volunteers spent the last frantic days copying, painting, stapling, typing, hammering, baking and sewing. Whatever was needed was done.

Finally, on March 8, 1970, the 760 athletes and coaches began to arrive at the Yellowknife airport, where they were welcomed by cheering Yellowknifers. The next afternoon, under clear blue skies, they marched through the streets of downtown Yellowknife behind a colour guard that included Yellowknife Army cadets, the RCMP and the Alaska State Police. Thousands of spectators cheered them on. The parade wound its way to Petitot Park, where Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau lit three torches carried by young athletes from the three teams. Holding the torches high above their heads, they ran across Frame Lake and lit the Arctic Winter Games torch. The first Arctic Winter Games had begun.

Photo courtesy of Sport North Federation

With the opening ceremonies completed, spectators settled in to watch the demonstrations of the traditional Arctic Sports. Games like the high kick, rope gymnastics and harpoon throwing fascinated the spectators, including Trudeau who tried his hand, or perhaps foot, at the high kick.

Very few outsiders had ever seen any of these games before and they were fascinated by the skill and dexterity required. Mickey Gordon of Inuvik set the first AWG high kick record with a kick of 77 inches. Except for the harpoon toss, these events took place inside the Gerry Murphy arena, where more than 1,000 people cheered and clapped while competitors, as well as the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers, shared their culture. These Arctic Sports, which had originally been scheduled for only the first day of competition, proved so popular that the participants were asked to repeat their demonstrations for the next three days.

When all was said and done, the first Arctic Winter Games were not about winning ulus. These Games had accomplished exactly what they set out to accomplish. They gave northerners a chance to meet other northerners, hone their athletic skills, and enjoy participating in a sport in a friendly, northern environment. Within a day or two of beginning, the first AWG was being declared a “smashing success” and, when the Games torch was extinguished, all the talk was about the next Games…“Just wait till ’72 in Whitehorse.”