In this high-kicking event at the Arctic Winter Games, Ali Johnston's task was to kick a sealskin ball with a single foot. The Team Alaska competitor did so at a height of 223.5 centimetres, winning silver.
For anyone who hears the word Arctic and envisions a white, snow-and-ice-covered landscape devoid of life, the events that occurred last week at the Arctic Winter Games in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Valley would quickly change that.
There, on the ancestral land of the Dena’ina and Ahtna Dene, athletes, coaches and performers representing eight Arctic contingents from around the circumpolar North gathered from March 10 to 16 to showcase their athletic prowess, and honour their unique and vibrant cultures and traditions.
Conceived in the late 1960s as an alternative to events like the Canada Winter Games, where northern athletes and teams had struggled, the first Arctic Winter Games took place in 1970 in Yellowknife. Since then, the event has been held every two years in a different northern location, and has become a celebrated institution in its own right.
Olympic sports such as short-track speedskating and cross-country skiing are also played at the Arctic games.
In many ways, the Arctic Winter Games are like the Winter Olympics, except they predominantly involve youth under 18 and are smaller in scope – though not by much. For this year’s games, nearly 2,000 athletes descended upon Palmer and Wasilla, Alaska; by comparison, just over 2,800 athletes participated in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The two also feature many of the same sports, including curling, alpine skiing, figure skating, hockey, biathlon and speed skating. In addition, several events during the Arctic Winter Games are seen in the Summer Olympics: basketball, volleyball, wrestling, table tennis, archery and gymnastics, among others.
Unlike the Olympics, the Arctic Winter Games include Arctic Sports and Dene Games, each involving a series of competitions deeply rooted in northern Indigenous cultures. These unique events were once used as traditional ways to prepare for hunting and fishing seasons, to pass time and provide entertainment.
In addition to the athletic events, the Arctic Winter Games showcase and celebrate the rich cultures of Arctic peoples. But performances of Greenlandic mask dancing, Inuit throat singing, and Sámi joiks, amongst others, are also feats of incredible skill and strength. In recent history, these practices were once banned in their respective countries, and much like the communities they belong to, some sought to eliminate them. Today, these performances by youth are not only beautiful but also a testament to the resiliency of their cultures.
Now 54 years old, the games have woven themselves into the fabric of the North. Walking around any number of Arctic hamlets, it’s not unusual to see an old team jacket and, if you ask, hear stories from games’ past. For many, participation in the games has become a cherished generational tradition, a right of passage and a chance to be part of a unique legacy of northern strength that resonates with the audience.
The gold, silver and bronze medals at the Arctic Winter Games are shaped like ulus, an all-purpose tool whose name means ‘woman's knife’ in Inuktitut.
A middle-school gymnasium in Wasilla served as the venue for table-tennis matches. Over all, the games welcomed nearly 2,000 athletes here and in Palmer.
This year, the team formerly known as Greenland – a self-governing territory within Denmark – competed as Kalaallit Nunaat, which means ‘land of the Greenlanders’ in the Kalaallisut language.
The cauldron, which had been lit at the start of the games, shone again at the closing ceremonies in Wasilla on March 16. Whitehorse is the next city to play host to the event in 2026.