Susan Aglukark Walking Buffalo Matthew Coon Come Crowfoot Joseph and Josephine Crowshoe Mary Two-Axe Early Sharon and Shirly Firth Chief Dan George Elijah Harper Waneek Horn Tom Jackson Tom Longboat Buffy Sainte-Marie Allen Sapp

Tom Longboat, Onondago Athlete

Tom Longboat was born in Ontario on the Six Nations Reserve in 1887. He grew up on a small farm where he discovered his ability to run. In 1906 he out ran a horse on a 12-mile course.  His special ability served him well as an athlete. He won the Toronto fifteen mile race three times, and in 1907, at the age of 20, he won the Boston Marathon.  His 15-mile time of one hour, 25 minutes and 43 seconds in a 1908 race stood as the Canadian record for 56 years and lent him the nickname "Bronze Mercury."

He retired from running in 1912 and in 1916 enlisted to fight during WWI. He used his athletic ability to run messages from one post to another. It was a very dangerous job; On one occasion Longboat was injured during the war and even pronounced dead. He survived that event, but succumbed to pneumonia in 1949. Today there is a sportsmanship award known as the Tom Longboat Award presented annually in his honour by the Aboriginal Sport Circle.

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