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The first Northern Games were held in 1970, and today they still attract people from all over the North.
 There's no point having an Arctic Winter Games if traditional events aren't among the contests. That's what got Edward Lennie inspired to organize the first Northern Games. - NNSL photo |
For his efforts in creating this unique Northern event, Lennie, now 68 years old, was awarded an Aboriginal Achievement Award on March 31.
News/North: What sparked your decision to create the Northern Games and how long ago was that?
Edward Lennie: (laughs) I repeat it so many times, you know. In 1969 they started the Arctic Winter Games and that's when I started.
N/N: They started the Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife?
EL: Yeah, the first Arctic Winter Games was in Yellowknife.
N/N: So you wanted to start a Northern Games up here?
EL: Yeah.
N/N: What were you trying to do?
EL: I just saw a chance for me to see if I could get the Northern Games started because it was straight Southern games that they were going to play and they called it an Arctic Winter Games and it bothered me. There were no games from the Arctic.
N/N: No traditional games at all?
EL: Nothing, nothing.
N/N: What traditional games were you interested in?
EL: What you see all the time when you see the Northern Games going on, all the high kicks and all that. And there's a lot more besides that.
N/N: All of these games that you started with, they were games that you played when growing up?
EL: They were passed on from generation to generation. There was nothing that I dreamed up myself, it was all passed on to me.
N/N: What was your job in Inuvik at the time?
EL: I was working for the Armed Forces at the time. I was a bus driver then.
N/N: How did you find the time to co-ordinate an event like this?
EL: With lots of good help and when you are interested in something, it's not hard and you just make time for it.
N/N: How did that first Northern Games turn out? What was it like?
EL: It was in July and it was great. It must have been great because it's still going on.
N/N: What was it like and how did people enjoy it?
EL: I can't tell you how many people were there because they came from right across the circumpolar region. Right from Alaska and people from Greenland came and they were all dressed up and right over to, I don't even know how far, but Iqaluit for sure and it might have been further. But now it's right across to Labrador, the whole works.
N/N: Was it just for the Inuit and the Inuvialuit?
EL: No. Everybody was mixed at that time. The Gwich'in was involved, we got people from Whitehorse and people from the Sahtu -- all over.
N/N: How did you organize such a huge event like that? How did you get people to come from that far away?
EL: It just happened. Everybody got excited and it just happened. When they are interested in something you don't need much of a lead, you just keep forming it and the people are willing to take it from there. My biggest help, I would say the biggest one that really more or less put the whole thing together was Nellie (Cournoyea). We just started talking and pretty soon it just got bigger and bigger and the interest was there, so we just carried on from there.
N/N: So it was just word of mouth.
EL: Oh yeah. The first Arctic Winter Games is the one that opened the door and when we went to the second Arctic Winter Games it opened more so. And we used to go to Fairbanks, over to the Olympics. So we competed there, too.
N/N: I guess everyone had a different dialect or spoke a different language. How did people cope with that?
EL: It wasn't hard. Because when you are interested in something, the language you speak they understand it.
N/N: Are you happy with how the games have evolved over time? Did you ever expect that they would be so successful?
EL: Well, if I wasn't happy I would drop it the first year. Just like anything that you are not happy with, you don't carry it on.
N/N: Have you been involved with the Northern Games every year since then?
EL: I have been there all the time. If young people decide to take it over and make it bigger and better, then I will just sit back and watch and enjoy it.
N/N: Do you still participate in them or are you just a spectator now?
EL: I am more or less just a spectator and when they need something they come over and ask.
N/N: What's your favourite traditional game?
EL: The whole works. There is no such thing as a favourite. I like them all because all of them are tied together and if you miss one game, you're not as good as what you should be.
N/N: I recall at the last Northern Games this winter they revived the swing kick.
EL: Well, it's just something that they put aside. You see the reason for it is some people started doing the kick wrong and they just slow it down and then bring it back and do it correctly. And if you don't do it that way, don't bother playing it. Each game is played the way it was put on years and years ago. Our ancestors made the rules and we still carry them on and I don't think I am man enough to change them myself.
N/N: Are you impressed or surprised that the games are still going on?
EL: Well, the interest was there and everybody got excited over it, they all enjoy it and once you get that I know it's not going to die off. It's just going to get bigger and better.
N/N: How did you feel about receiving the Aboriginal Achievement Award?
EL: Well, I was proud but without the help of a lot of people it would have never happened. I always say the only reason I am sticking out like this is because I made big noise and have lots of fun with people all the time. Anybody that comes to the games who enjoys them and wants to show off the traditional games they used to play when they were kids, that's even better.
