Wilton Littlechild (Government of Alberta, Alberta Order of Excellence)

By Alessia Proietti

Meritorious Service Cross (Civil Division)

Wilton Littlechild of Maskwacis to receive Governor General of Canada award

May 25, 2022 | 2:07 PM

A local central Albertan will soon be the recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross (Civil Division), a prestigious award by the Governor General of Canada.

Wilton Littlechild of Maskwacis is one of the May 2022 Canadian Honors recipients. He will be presented the award by the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, during a ceremony on May 26 at the Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

Meritorious Service Cross (Civil Division) (Governor General of Canada)

According to the Governor General of Canada, the award is given to a nominated individual in recognition of their remarkable contributions that bring honor to the country in various fields including advocacy, health care, research, humanitarian, and more.

Littlechild, 78, was born in Maskwacis, then called Hobbema, and is known for his work in promoting Indigenous rights as a lawyer, politician, and athlete.

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Spending 14 years in the residential school system, he later graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Physical Education with a love for sports. After coaching at the professional hockey academy, he pursued his legal education, becoming the first Alberta Treaty First Nation person to receive a law degree from the University of Alberta in 1967. As a result, the Cree Nations gave Littlechild the headdress as an honorary chief which, according to the provincial government, is deemed the highest honor in his Indigenous culture.

Participating in numerous Indigenous rights groups, he worked with the United Nations for over 30 years and was credited for delaying the patriation of Canada’s Constitution until Treaty rights were included and entrenched. He was also the first Treaty Indian Member of Parliament in 1988 with the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, now the Conservative Party of Canada.

Today, he is a commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Littlechild has been recognized for numerous awards to date, including the Queen’s Counsel and Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel, the highest honors in the legal profession, inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999, and the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2014, among others.

In athletics, Littlechild has won over 70 provincial, regional, national and international championships in various sports, being inducted into seven Sports Halls of Fame. He was the first Indigenous Torch Bearer and an Ambassador for the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010.

A list of the 21 recipients for various Governor General of Canada May 2022 awards can be found on their website.