Kiviaq – Inuit, athlete, lawyer, politician

Kiviaq took up boxing to protect himself from racial bullying.

By age 13, he became the Edmonton Golden Gloves champ. The opponent he beat was a 21 year old man. Kiviaq went on to win 108 of 112 fights.

At 19, Kiviaq became first Inuk to join the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, but before his first game, he was injured and never played.

Kiviaq was the first Inuit lawyer in Canada. He was called to the bar in 1983.

In 2001, he legally changed his name to Kiviaq, from his birth name, David Charles Ward.

After the federal government refused to acknowledge Inuit names and assigned all of them a number, Kiviaq’s legal battle is remembered today as one of the first attempts to reclaim Inuit names.