In pictures: Team NT at the 2023 North American Indigenous Games

That’s it until Calgary in 2027: NWT athletes head home from Nova Scotia on Sunday as the North American Indigenous Games come to a close.

The Games ended in subdued fashion – heavy rainfall and flooding prevented the closing ceremony from going ahead – but Team NT will return celebrating a haul of 11 medals including one gold and two silver.

The team’s gold medal came from the boys’ U14 4x400m relay squad as the territory picked up a total of six track and field podium finishes, including silver and bronze in the male U14 1,200m.

There were also three medals at the pool and two in badminton, Andrew Kay-Grenier winning singles bronze then doubles silver with Detonaze Paulette.

Among the next events on the NWT’s major multi-sport games calendar is the 2024 Arctic Winter Games, in which athletes will head to Alaska in March next year. (Now is a good time to make sure you have a passport if you hope to be on the team. Here’s how to apply.)

That’ll be followed by the Canada Summer Games in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2025, the Arctic Winter Games in 2026 (if a host can be found – Whitehorse is considering stepping in after the Russian region of Yamal was excluded from the hosting circuit), and the Canada Winter Games in Quebec City in 2027.

Organizers announced on Friday evening that the next North American Indigenous Games will be held in Calgary in the summer of 2027. The Alberta city beat a bid from Tk’emlúps/Kamloops to host the event.

Here are some of our favourite photos from the past week.

You can find more images from the Games on the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT’s Flickr page.