The annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) bring together hundreds of Indigenous athletes in Fairbanks, Alaska, from July 15 to 18, 2024, to compete in traditional games originating from Alaska, Greenland, Siberia, and Canada. The event celebrates heritage through contests like the two-foot high kick, knuckle hop, and dene stick pull.
Nicole Johnson's record and ongoing participation
Nicole Johnson, an Iñupiaq athlete, set the women's world record in the two-foot high kick in July 1989 at WEIO, striking a seal-skin target at 6 feet 6 inches. At age 57, she will compete in the dene stick pull, a game where participants grip a greased stick and try to wrest it from an opponent. Johnson, who serves on WEIO's board of governors as head official, has competed most of her life. "I am going to be doing [Arctic sports] until I'm in my walker or wheelchair or until I can't do it any more," she said. "And when I can't do it, I'm still gonna be sitting on the sidelines cheering everybody on, offering my coaching advice."
Historical roots and suppression
Traditional Alaska Native games, or Arctic sports, were developed over centuries to build survival skills, endurance, and strength for tundra life. The two-foot high kick originated from long-distance communication: messengers kicked both feet to signal successful whale hunts. After the U.S. bought Alaska in 1867, assimilation policies forced Indigenous populations to adopt Western values. Children were removed to missionary schools and punished for speaking native languages; traditional hunting and fishing were forbidden. Rosita Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute and a Tlingit anthropologist, recalled being kidnapped by missionaries at age six in the 1940s and facing physical abuse. "We had to practice our ceremonies away from where there were white people," she said. When encountered, "we'd stop what we're doing and run around and act like we're playing."
Resurgence through WEIO
Assimilation policies waned in the 1960s after Alaska Native activism. The first WEIO was held in 1961 in Fairbanks to preserve the games. The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act granted Indigenous people title to 44 million acres of land and greater political power, solidifying the cultural resurgence. "At that time you really see the emergence of Native culture coming out into the open," Rosita Worl added. Last year, WEIO sold nearly 3,000 tickets. Athletes must be Indigenous and at least 12; some compete into their 70s. Top three winners receive medals, but participants emphasize camaraderie over competition.
Kyle Worl's mission to pass down traditions
Kyle Worl, a Tlingit, Yup'ik, and Deg Hit'an Athabascan wellness administrator and coach, is dedicated to teaching youth. "I'm part of a long unbroken passage of knowledge," said Worl, 35. "There have been many challenging points in our people's history where things were almost taken from us: our language, our culture. It really is this generation's responsibility to be intentional and put forth a good effort to keep it going." He became passionate after a teacher dismissed the games as not a legitimate sport. "That lit a fire in me early on," he said. "I was like: 'I must show the world, I must show people that I'm a real athlete, this is a real sport.'"
Training and global exposure
Worl will compete in events including the knuckle hop, where athletes start in a push-up position on knuckles and toes and hop across the floor, mimicking seals. He practices in public spaces worldwide to build awareness. As a board member of North American Indigenous Games, he helped introduce Arctic sports to the 2028 competitions. He hopes to demonstrate at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. "I don't want our culture to be a relic of the past in museums. It's something alive," Worl said. "Our own Indigenous sport, language and culture, are part of the fabric of what makes us human and diverse."
Community impact and future
Amber Vaska, WEIO board president and Yup'ik athlete, learned games through school in Aniak, Alaska, at age 10. "I don't do a lot of sewing, and I haven't learned my language, but I have learned the game," Vaska said. "It's my way that I can share and celebrate our culture and to continue it into the future to the next generation." She trains with weightlifting, plyometrics, and running for events like the kneel jump, which historically helped ice fishers quickly stand if ice broke. The games, including regalia contests and dancing, represent a living tradition that has survived suppression and now thrives through events like WEIO.
