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 about the power of prayer being marked in so many events throughout his life.
He recalled a 16-year-old student who took the initiative to offer a prayer song at a meeting of Calgary Catholic students in 2013, while the College of Cardinals was meeting at the Vatican to elect the man who would become Pope Francis.
Chief Littlechild also spoke of the time when the Holy Father announced on a tight timeline that he would come to Canada in 2022, and the unprecedented excitement in Maskwacis when it was revealed that Pope Francis would make their community his first stop.
Chief Littlechild also recalled leading a delegation to the United Nations with indigenous Elders, when he convinced the secular international body to have the meeting start with a hand-drummed prayer song.
“Every meeting now at the UN starts with a prayer. It was because of the Elders donation to humankind,” said Chief Littlechild, who has worked with the UN for nearly five decades. “The Great Spirit works in mysterious ways.”
Chief Littlechild shared his joy in the achievement of recognition by the UN of spiritual rights as a human right, and the prayer chosen from among 300 submissions for the International Year of Peace in 1986: the Prayer of St. Francis.
“We can all agree, I’m sure, today we really, really, really need that prayer — because it speaks to every one of us,” Chief Littlechild said. “From a young, 16-year-old man to four Elders singing, a new human right on spirituality has become an international law.”
Named after the first lay president of Newman Theological College, this year’s Kevin Carr Christian Leadership Award ceremony paid tribute to Kevin Carr who passed away this fall after a lengthy illness.
“His work in education, especially in the context of Catholic teaching, and his role in leadership within the church and community, paint a picture of someone who dedicated his life to both the intellectual and spiritual formation of others,” said Dr. Mona-Lee Feehan, campus minister at St. Joseph’s College and the master of ceremonies for the award luncheon.
“His achievements are a lasting testament to the value he placed on both faith and service.”
In her remarks at the award luncheon, Feehan said: “Chief Littlechild is highlighted as a prime example of someone dedicated to service, others, and faith, without seeking recognition, and we thank him for his gentle guidance.”
Chief Littlechild is a Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame athlete and the founder of the North American Indigenous Games and the World Indigenous Games. Willie was a Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, and the first Treaty Indian Member of Parliament, serving a five-year term from 1988-93, representing the riding of Wetaskiwin, Alberta. He has been awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence and the Order of Canada, amongst many accolades.
At 80, and as a father and grandfather, Chief Littlechild ended his award acceptance speech with a message on the power of family: “We hear different acronyms. Family: F-A-M-I-L-Y. Do you what that stands for? Father And Mother, I Love You.”