Liam Gill was born and raised in Calgary, but his roots are in the village of Fort Simpson, in the Northwest Territories — the home of the Liidlii Kue First Nation. That’s why, following his debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gill arranged for a small group of kids from Fort Simpson to travel to Banff for an all-expenses-paid snowboarding trip. “It was a reach because flights alone could cost $10,000, but we applied for a grant and then all of my sponsors were in,” he recalls, “and then all of a sudden, it started becoming achievable.”
Following the success of that first trip, Gill’s program, now called Liam and Friends, has become an annual event. Despite his busy training schedule and competing at snowboarding events around the world, he hopes to expand the program into other parts of Canada in the near future. In addition to sharing his passion for snowboarding with Indigenous youth, Liam and Friends has also helped Gill to learn more about his roots and the Dene culture. “I’ve made these great connections with all the kids and the youth up north. And every year, I feel more and more connected with my culture and community, and I can say thanks to snowboarding for that.”
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