Nunavut athletes honoured in Ottawa

Two Nunavut athletes were honoured on Saturday night in Ottawa during the Aboriginal Sports Circle’s National Indigenous Sports Gala.

Rankin Inlet hockey player Lana Lindell and Sanikiluaq multisport athlete Andrew Kavik were named as Nunavut’s recipients of the Tom Longboat Award, established in 1951 in memory of the late Onondaga distance runner from the Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ont.

“It was a great night filled with celebration,” said Aboriginal Sport Circle spokesperson Julie Hawrishok, in an email. “The main ballroom was transformed with lights and a digital background that displayed images of the recipients and images from their home province or territory.”

Lindell accepted her award onstage at the Ottawa Conference Centre from former Aboriginal Sport Circle board member Brendon Smithson. Jeff Seeteenak, former chef de mission for Team Nunavut, accepted Kavik’s award on his behalf because the athlete was unable to attend.

Kavik was recognized for excelling in badminton and for helping his team earn bronze in volleyball during the 2026 Arctic Winter Games.

At the same event, Lindell captained Team Nunavut’s U19 female hockey team to a bronze. She also captained Saskatchewan’s U18AA Notre Dame Hounds while attending Athol Murray College of Notre Dame.

Alongside hockey, she has participated in volleyball, basketball rugby, and ultimate frisbee during four years at the sports development high school.

“Anything that they provided I played at least a year of,” she said in a phone interview.

She is active in student leadership and volunteer initiatives while studying engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.

Although the Professional Women’s Hockey League remains a dream, Lindell’s plan is to return home to help build infrastructure in Rankin Inlet, she said.