Glossary Biographies Tidbits

    Biographies:

Sharon and Shirley Firth, Skiers
The Firth twins were born in Aklavik, Northwest Tesrritories, but grew up in Inuvik where they led a traditional lifestyle. They often helped their father with his trap lines. They learned to ski from Father Mouchet, a local priest, and discovered they had a natural talent for cross-county skiing. They represented Canada in four consecutive Winter Olympics and dominated women's cross-country skiing from 1972-1984. In total, they won a combined forty-eight Canadian championships.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/origin/grade3/biographies/firth.htm

Waneek Horn, Athlete
Waneek Horn is a member of the Kahnawake Mohawk First Nation located near Montreal, Quebec. She began competitive swimming at age seven and in 1989 joined her high school's water polo team. An a great athlete, her accomplishments include winning a gold medal at the 1999 Pan Am Games and participating as co-captain of the water polo team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Horn graduated from Carlton University in 1999 with a political science degree. While in university she won the title Female Athlete of the Year three times. She also works part-time as a TV host for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/origin/grade3/biographies/horn.htm

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 twelve-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 twenty, he won the Boston Marathon. His fifteen mile time of one hour, twenty-five minutes and forty-three seconds in a 1908 race stood as the Canadian record for firty-six 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 that is presented annually in his honour by the Aboriginal Sport Circle.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/origin/grade3/
biographies/longboat.htm

Jordin Tootoo, Hockey Player
Jordin Tootoo is the first Inuit player in the National Hockey League (NHL). Tootoo was born and raised in Rankin Inlet, located in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Rankin Inlet is home to about two-thousand people and is one of the largest settlements in the territory. Tootoo worked his way up through the hockey system and gained fame as member of the Canadian Junior team in 2002. He has overcome many barriers during his quest to play in the NHL, and in the process has become a role model for many young people in the territory of Nunavut.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/contributions/student/
biographies/sports_tootoo.htm

Michael Nepinak, Track and Field Athlete
Michael Nepinak is a member of the Pine Creek First Nation, and is considered a Canadian track and field legend. In 1977, he set an Ivy League Track record in the triple jump, and set a Commonwealth Games record in 1978 that stood for eight years. In 1980, he became a member of Canada’s Olympic Team. He recently accepted the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for 2002.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/contributions/student/
biographies/sports_nepinak.htm

Angela Chalmers
Angela Chalmers is a track and field star that held a spot on the 1988 Canadian Olympic team. At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, she became the first woman in history to win both the 1,500 metre and 3,000-metre races in 1990. She participated in the 2000 Victoria Commonwealth Games breaking both the Canadian and Commonwealth records for 3,000 meters.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/health/elementary/info/bio.htm

Ted Nolan
Ted Nolan of Sault Ste. Marie was a National Hockey League (NHL) hockey player and coach. He played in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He became assistant coach for the Hartford Whalers for one season, and was head coach for the Buffalo Sabres for the 1995 season. In his second season he was awarded the Jack Adams trophy for top coach. In 2005, he coached hockey in Moncton, NB.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/health/elementary/info/bio3.htm

Tom Three Persons, Blood Cowboy

Tom Three Persons was born on a Blood reserve. In 1912, he entered the Bronco Riding event at the Calgary Stampede and was the last rider to mount a horse called Cyclone. Cyclone had a reputation for bucking off every rider, but Three Persons managed to stay on and became the World Champion in the bucking horse section. He took home as his prize a handmade saddle, gold buckle and $1,000. He went on to become a successful rancher and died at the age of sixty-three.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/origin/grade4/
biographies/tom_three_persons.htm

Theoren Fleury
Anyone who knows hockey knows who Theo Fleury is. However, few know that Theo is of Métis (mixed-blood) heritage. Born and raised in the Prairie Provinces (Saskatchewan and Manitoba), Theo grew up playing tough Canadian hockey. Despite his small build, he is a gritty player who works hard day-in and day-out. The points leader of his team, Theo is dangerous every time he touches the puck.

http://www.nativehockey.com/players/nhl/fleury.html

Aaron Asham
Aaron Asham is a Métis from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Despite injuries early in his career, Aaron Asham worked his way into the Montreal lineup on the checking line.  Although he was a top scorer in juniors in Red Deer, Aaron found his niche in Montreal on the checking line.  His hard work and determination has paid off on both ends of the ice. Aaron was traded to the New York Islanders during the 2002 draft and has become a complete player and a major offensive contributor on his team, and plays on both the power play and penalty kill.

Rene Bourque
Rene was born in Edmonton, Alberta and is of Métis heritage. Last year’s American Hockey League (AHL) Rookie of the Year, he is enjoying a great first year in the National Hockey League (NHL).  After a great career playing American college hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), and a full season in the AHL, Rene has arrived in the NHL. Rene has both the speed and size that Chicago needs. Also of note is the fact the Rene possesses a very hard shot. At the 2005 AHL All-Star Game skills competition, Rene won the hardest shot competition with a shot clocked at 99.8 mph. Keep an eye on this NHL rookie.

http://www.nativehockey.com/players/nhl/bourque.html

Sheldon Souray
Sheldon Souray is Métis and was born in Elk Point, Alberta. Sheldon is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who plays defence for the Montreal Canadiens. Other than playing professional hockey in the National Hockey League (NHL), Sheldon also runs the Sheldon Souray Hockey School in St. Paul, Alberta. He also runs an Aboriginal Role Model Hockey School, which was created to show Native Canadian children that there are positive role models for them to look up to.To honor his heritage, the Montreal Canadian defenseman has a tattoo of a Métis Indian chief in full headdress on his right arm. Sheldon has also made a cameo appearance on the soap opera, "One Life to Live" with some of his ex-teammates on the New Jersey Devils.

Alwyn Morris
Alwyn Morris, a Mohawk from Kahnawake, Québec, won the Gold Medal in the 1000-metre K-2 kayaking event at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. During his memorable stand on the podium, he held an eagle feather high to honour his grandfather and his culture. He was twice honoured with the Tom Longboat Award for Canada's outstanding Aboriginal athlete, appointed Ambassador of Youth for Canada, and named to the Order of Canada. For the next ten years, he crossed the country, maintaining and promoting educational initiatives and prevention programs for drug and alcohol abuse. He discusses the impact of the Oka Crisis on his community and his work today, negotiating land issues as a member of his Band Council. He is also the visionary behind the Aboriginal Sports Circle, a national organization committed to the development of Aboriginal athletes and coaches.

http://www.movingimages.ca/catalogue/Cultdiverse/Cultdiverse_af.html

Ruth Hill
Ruth Hill was known as "Ruthie" to her friends and teammates. As a teenager (Ruth Van Every) in the late 1940s, she was well known for her softball pitching especially her rising fastball. Ruth was one of the first members of the Mohawk women's softball team in the 1950s. She was well known in the area for her rising fastball, which was said to have started at knee level and, by the time it crossed the plate, it was just above shoulder level. If she could make a batter swing at that, she would throw one higher. In 1964, the Mohawks had played an exhibition game against the Toronto Carpetland team and the players were so impressed with her pitching they invited her to join them for a tournament in Florida. The only game Toronto won at the Florida tournament was the game Ruth pitched, and she also batted in the game winning run. Soon after, Ruth lost one of her fingers on her pitching hand in an accident. In 1979, Ruth and a few old friends started a new team, which they entered and won the Canadian women's Fast Ball Championship in Kelowna, B.C. Ruth, at age fifty, even pitched a few innings with her four fingers and helped her team to victory.

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Traditions/
English/woodland_games_05.html

Gaylord Powless
Nicknamed the Marvellous Mohawk, Gaylord Powless is remembered as one of the finest players to ever set foot on a lacrosse floor. Born 1 December 1946, Powless had a lacrosse stick in his hands since the day he could walk. By the time he was seventeen he was honoured with the Tom Longboat award as top Native athlete in Canada. That year, he also caught the eye of legendary coach Jim Bishop who would eventually put Powless in a game after an injury to another player. Powless scored three goals and five assists in his first game for the Oshawa Green Gaels. He went on to lead the Gaels to four Minto cup championships in as many years, from 1964 to 1967.
Powless was awarded the Jim McConaghy Memorial Cup as the most valuable player in 1964 and 1967, he also took home the Ken Ross trophy for ability and sportsmanship in 1965 and 1966. Powless went on to play for professional teams in Detroit, Syracuse, and Montreal and senior or major teams in Brantford, Coquitlam, Six Nations, and Brampton.
Gaylord and his father, Ross Powless, made lacrosse history in 1990 when Gaylord was selected to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Ross had been selected in 1969; they were the only father and son duo to share that honour.
After retiring from playing the game, Powless coached minor lacrosse and hockey teams back at his home on the Six Nations Reserve, ironically most games took place at the Gaylord Powless Arena.
Gaylord passed away in the summer of 2001 after a long bout with cancer, he was fifty-four years old.

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Traditions/
English/woodland_games_07.html