canada post unveils annual stamps honouring indigenous leadership, excellence in sports
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julie philippe, canada post vice-president people and safety, hans lennie, edward lennie's son, and chief wilton littlechild pose after unveiling newly released canada post stamps in calgary on wednesday, june 17, 2026. canada post celebrated indigenous leaders in sport with its fifth annual stamp release. bryan trottier, edward lennie and chief wilton littlechild were honoured for athletic excellence and instilling cultural pride across their communities.
jim wells/postmedia
when chief wilton littlechild heard that canada post was dedicating a stamp to him, “tears flowed.”
“my first thought was the years of separation from my grandparents,” littlechild told reporters on wednesday. a residential school survivor, the cree chief and lawyer recalled how stamps played a unique role in keeping him connected with his grandparents as a child.
“in that stamped envelope was the love that i needed to carry on. there’s a special connection there to fill a missing space.”
on wednesday, littlechild, along with bryan trottier and edward lennie, were honoured at the calgary public library with a newly unveiled three-stamp issue, each print commemorating their lives in, and contributions to, canadian sport.
“these men have broken records and set standards for sportsmanship; their achievements have supported athletic participation and cultural pride across indigenous communities,” said julie philippe, vice-president of people and safety at canada post. “that’s why canada post has created a stamp commemorating each of them.”
littlechild attributed his survival in residential school to sports.
“schooling (was where) i found sports first,” he said, during the ceremony. “it was hockey and baseball, and then swimming, judo and football found me. there were many times i ran to sports to run away from the abuse, to exercise and pray or just to cry.”
as an adult, littlechild went on to win 70 championships in sports as well as earn degrees in physical education before becoming the first alberta treaty first nation person to earn a law degree. he was inducted into several sports halls of fame and was instrumental in establishing the national indian athletic association, the north american indigenous games and the world indigenous nations games.
chief wilton littlechild poses in calgary with a newly released canada post stamp bearing his likeness on wednesday, june 17, 2026.
jim wells/postmedia
‘inspire the next generation’
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bryan trottier, in a video message, spoke of his childhood ambitions to make it through one shift with the national hockey league.
“maybe one shift, maybe score a goal,” he said. “the wildest dream was winning a stanley cup and raising it over my head like my boyhood idols.”
after getting his start in competitive hockey at age eight, trottier would go on to win the stanley cup six times as a player and once as an assistant coach. he also earned five major nhl honours, including league mvp and playoff mvp, and was inducted into the hockey hall of fame and canada sports hall of fame.
off the rink, he co-founded the aboriginal alumni hockey team and travelled canada offering hockey clinics and mentorship.
“here i am, a proud canadian, a proud métis canadian, saskatchewan-born with first nations grandparents, cree métis chippewa, an irish mother and parents who encouraged us in sport, in music, in school to pursue something with our whole heart, and hopefully inspire the next generation student athlete to pursue their dreams with their whole heart,” he said.
a video message from former nhl player bryan trottier is played in calgary as newly released canada post stamps were unveiled on wednesday, june 17, 2026.
jim wells/postmedia
‘passing the techniques and the games on’
edward lennie was known as the father of the northern indigenous games, after he championed for traditional indigenous games to continue, whether that meant teaching them to youth in his living room or founding the northern games and successfully advocating for inuit sports to be showcased at the inaugural arctic winter games in the ’70s. for his accomplishments, he was awarded the national aboriginal achievement award in 2003, and after his death in 2020, he was posthumously inducted into canada’s sports hall of fame in 2022.
on wednesday, his son hans lennie unveiled the stamp in his honour and after the ceremony, posed with multiple members of the family in front of the stamp poster to celebrate his father’s achievement.
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“my daughter, my dad’s granddaughter, is at a northern game summit, passing the techniques and the games on to the next generation, ensuring that it was done properly,” he told reporters. “that is what my dad wanted to ensure it was brought back.”
hans lennie, edward lennie’s son, poses in calgary with a newly released canada post stamp on wednesday, june 17, 2026.
jim wells/postmedia
to the public, his father was an instrumental figure in bringing back the limelight to indigenous games and traditions. to the family, he was the square dance caller at family events. “he just loved to dance,” lennie said, recalling how his parents would take up arms and “glide across the floor as soon as the fiddle music started.”
at home, the family plans to hold a big event celebrating canada post’s commemoration of his father.
“it’s a big gathering. we’re going to all eat together. we’ll let youth do the games, and at the end, we’re going to have a jigging contest,” he said, referring to the long métis tradition of step-dance to fiddle music.
“it’s what he loved to do, he loved to dance. so, it’s all going to come through.”
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