NAIG Cultural Village named after late Elder
- Jeanelle Mandes | July 23, 2014
Kirby Littletent was not only a respected elder, but he was one of the bidders who sat in the Elder position to get the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) here in Regina, Saskatchewan.
He passed away two and half years ago, which was a huge loss to those that knew him, including the family he left behind. His son, Preston Littletent, remembers his father as a respected, humble and a very traditional man.
"My dad had a really big heart; his name Indian name was Walking Stone. He was big-hearted for the people. He never said no; there was no word for 'no' in his heart. He helped out a lot of people," says Littletend. "He was a good man."
Littletent says his late father was very instrumental about the getting the games here in Regina. After he passed away, he says it was a tremendous loss for his family and all that knew him.
In February, the family made a second annual memorial round dance for their late father in Lebret, Saskatchewan.
A few of the Chiefs from the Federated Indian Nations of Saskatchewan (FSIN) attended the event and surprised the family when they broke the news that they were going to honour him at NAIG this year with a memorial tribute.
FSIN Vice-Chief Kimberley Jonathan says Littletent was such a powerful gifted man who was initially one of the main elders when the discussion of bringing the games to Saskatchewan started.
"He went to the bid and he was there when the bid was accepted and went to Saskatchewan," says Jonathan. he reason why he was so acknowledged is that he provided so many good teachings. His teachings still live on and they still are healing today even though he doesn't walk the earth with us anymore."
FSIN Vice-Chief Bobby Cameron remembers Littletent as a healing warrior with all the lives that he had touched with the teachings he had passed onto others including his family.
"You see it in his children and you see it in those people he passed those teachings onto. You see it in his sons' footsteps, those young boys are healing us how they perform and how they keep a little bit of Kirby inside of them," says Cameron.
"It was a fitting name for these grounds," he adds.
Preston says his family was all mind blown that the Saskatchewan Chiefs honoured his father this way.
"It was quite heart wrenching and the whole entire family was caught off guard," he says. "We were surprised, happy and excited at the same time because we didn't know they were going to rename the Cultural Village after him. It was a humbling experience to see and witness that."
The Kirby Littletent Memorial Cultural Village is held in the lawn of the First Nations University of Canada with many cultural activities and entertainment; something that the late elder would have been proud to see.