As much as Chief Wilton Littlechild’s accomplishments as an athlete are tremendous personal accomplishments, it is how he has used these gifts for the benefit of others that are extraordinary. Over the past five decades, he has worked tirelessly to create new opportunities for Indigenous athletes that promote a healthier lifestyle for young people and encourage reconciliation, community building, and an enduring expression of cultural identity. He won four Tom Longboat medallions and won the Tom Longboat Award twice in 1967 and 1974.

Some of these include creating the first All-Indigenous Junior Hockey team in Alberta in the 1970s, founding the North American Indigenous Games in 1990, and the World Indigenous Games in 2015.

Utilizing athletic principles, he also became a pioneer for the Global Indigenous Rights movement and an avid advocate of Indigenous People’s rights internationally for over 40 years primarily through the United Nations.