Wilton little child biography sample

  • Known fondly as “Willie”, Littlechild is an honorary Cree chief, lawyer within the Ermineskin reserve, and fervent advocate for sports and education.
  • A diligent student, he attended the University of Alberta and earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1967, followed by a master's degree in 1975.
  • In 1976, Chief Wilton Littlechild had the distinction of being the first Treaty First Nation person to acquire his law degree from the.

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    Anyone aware of the work, life, and growing legacy of J. Wilton Littlechild will know that he is a significant leader in international Indigenous lag and the pursuit of reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and the country of Canada.

    Known fondly as “Willie”, Littlechild fryst vatten an honorary Cree ledare, lawyer within the Ermineskin reserve, and fervent advokat for sports and education. Alongside holding many significant leadership positions, Willie contributed to writing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), was a Member of Parliament for Wetaskiwin, and continues to be a critical leader in Canada’s journey towards Truth & Reconciliation.

    Willie Littlechild’s Early Life & Residential School Experiences

    Born in 1944 within the Ermineskin Cree Nation, Littlechild was raised bygd his grandparents on reserve land south of Edmonton, Alberta on the traditional territory of Bear Hills or Maskwacheesihk.

    At age six, Willie was forced away fr

  • wilton little child biography sample

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    The role of physical activity and sport in reconciliation: A conversation with Wilton Littlechild

    At the time, Littlechild could only speak Cree, but English would become the only language he was allowed to speak for the next 14 years that he spent in the residential school system, a network of boarding schools for Indigenous children funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches, designed to isolate Indigenous children from the influence of their own culture and religion in order to assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture. 

    “The residential school policy was a direct assault on the Indigenous families, because children were separated from their parents, and it was a direct assault on our culture, because we weren’t allowed to speak our language,” said Littlechild at a recent event hosted by the University of Toronto Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE). “The policy was to kill the Indian in the

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    Chief Wilton (Willie) Littlechild, internationally known human rights lawyer and advocate for truth and reconciliation, is the first indigenous recipient of the Kevin Carr Christian Leadership Award from Newman Theological College.

    Chief Littlechild was born and raised on the Ermineskin Cree Nation. He is a residential school survivor, a former Truth and Reconciliation Commission member, the first Status Indian from Alberta to obtain a law degree, and is a parishioner at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in Maskwacis, where he lives and works.

    Chief Littlechild provided key leadership in initiating, organizing and facilitating in the 2022 visit of Pope Francis to Canada.

    In his Kevin Carr Christian Leadership Award acceptance speech Oct. 17, Chief Littlechild attributed his success to the power of sport. He recalled his that his first interaction with Newman Theological College was through sport, playing against its hockey team when he was a student at St. Anthony’s College. And he spoke