Arctic Winter Games


The Arctic Winter Games is an international biennial celebration of circumpolar sports and Indigenous culture.

Background

The Arctic Winter Games were founded in 1969 under the leadership of Governor Walter J. Hickel of Alaska, Stuart M. Hodgson, Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, and Yukon Commissioner James Smith. The idea to "provide a forum where athletes from the circumpolar North could compete on their own terms, on their own turf" came from Cal Miller, an advisor with the Yukon team at the 1967 Canada Winter Games.
In 1970 in Yellowknife, Canada, 500 athletes, trainers and officials came together for the first Arctic Winter Games. The participants came from the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska. Since then, the Games have been held on fifteen occasions in different places and with ever more participants from more and more places within the Arctic region. The games in 2002 were the first jointly hosted Arctic Winter Games, by Nuuk, Greenland and Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Sports disciplines

Games include:
A total of nine contingents participated in the Arctic Winter Games. The same group of teams also made up the participants of the previous games
Host cities have been in Canada, the United States, and Greenland.
YearHost CityCountry
1970YellowknifeCanada
1972WhitehorseCanada
1974AnchorageUnited States
1976ScheffervilleCanada
1978Hay River/Pine PointCanada
1980WhitehorseCanada
1982FairbanksUnited States
1984YellowknifeCanada
1986WhitehorseCanada
1988FairbanksUnited States
1990YellowknifeCanada
1992WhitehorseCanada
1994Slave LakeCanada
1996Chugiak/Eagle RiverUnited States
1998YellowknifeCanada
2000WhitehorseCanada
2002NuukGreenland
2002IqaluitCanada
2004Wood BuffaloCanada
2006Kenai Peninsula BoroughUnited States
2008YellowknifeCanada
2010Grande PrairieCanada
2012WhitehorseCanada
2014FairbanksUnited States
2016NuukGreenland
2018Hay River/Fort SmithCanada
2020Whitehorse Canada
2022Wood BuffaloCanada

Hodgson Trophy

The Hodgson trophy for fair play and team spirit is awarded at the end of every games. The trophy is named for Stuart Milton Hodgson, former Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.
The past winners of the trophy are:
WinnerYear
Alaska1978
Yukon1980–1988
Alaska1990
Northwest Territories1992
Greenland1994
Northwest Territories1996
Yukon1998
Nunavut2000
Greenland2002
Nunavut2004
Alaska2006
Nunavut2008
Alaska2010
Nunavut2012
Greenland2014
Alaska2016–2018

Arctic Winter Games International Committee