Cuddly, yet formidable: Meet Dach'aw, mascot for the 2020 Arctic Winter Games

It's cute, and even looks a bitcuddly at least on one side.

Meet Dach'aw, the newly-unveiled mascot for next year's Arctic Winter Gamesin Whitehorse. It's a smiling, bright-eyed porcupine with an unruly shock of quills spilling out of its "Bring it North" T-shirt.

11-year-old artist Owen McDonald's characterwas chosen from among dozens of entries into a contest by the Whitehorse 2020 organizers.

The charismatic quilled rodent edged outthe likes of Cecethe fox, and Cober the wolf cub. The contest was only open to Yukon youth aged eight to 18.

"It feels amazing.Like, I never actually won anything like this before, so it's pretty cool," McDonald said.

McDonald sayshis characterembodies the territory's athletes, and volunteers formidable on one side, like Yukon athletes, and warm and cuddly on the other, like Yukon hosts.

"I tried to make it, like, more cute than anything else.It's a mascot, there's kids [I'm] not trying to scare them," McDonald said.

McDonald says he's been drawing for years.

"I started when I was really little, and then I took a break for about a year, and I just got back into it, like, two years ago maybe," he said.

'A clear winner'

MoiraLassen, the general managerof the 2020 Arctic WinterGames, called Dach'aw "porcupine" in Southern Tutchone"a clear winner."

"We had so many creative and fun submissions from youth in the territory," Lassen said in a statement. "Our mascot selection committee hada very difficult decision."

The mascot committee will now work to make McDonald's design come to life as a real mascot. The character will be presented at a public event later this year.

McDonald will get V.I.P. accreditation for the games, tickets to the opening ceremonies, some AWGmerchandise, and a set of pins.

As for his drawing career?He's just getting started.

"I want to work for Marvel or DC make comics."