Elementary Student Zone: Biographies
Many and more Aboriginal notables are represented on the Canadian Aboriginal Newspaper site at
http://www.ammsa.com/windspeaker/index.htm. Choose the link “People of Honour.”
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Tom Longboat
Tom Longboat was an internationally
successful runner born in Ontario on the Six Nations Reserve in 1887. He
won the Boston Marathon and became known as the “best in the Western
Hemisphere.” 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. Today there is a sportsmanship award known as the Tom
Longboat Award presented annually in his honour by the Aboriginal Sport
Circle.
Ted Nolan
Ted Nolan of Sault Ste. Marie was a NHL
hockey player and coach. He played in the National Hockey League 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.
Bill Reid
Bill Reid is a Haida artist who carves and
preserves jewelry and totems. His totem pole carvings are known and
exhibited internationally.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s first home was the
Piapot Cree reserve in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan. She grew up in
the United States, where she completed a University PhD and writer
hundreds of notable songs. Many of her songs were also recorded by the
most famous names in the business. Many will remember Oscar winning “Up
where we Belong,” and the well known “Universal Soldier,” and “Until
It’s time for You to Go.” For five years, she and her son Dakota were
featured on Sesame Street. She is a teacher, artist, activist, and
mother.
Allen Sapp
Allen Sapp was born on the Red Pheasant
Reserve Saskatchewan in 1929. He began painting as a form of
communication to compensate for his poor writing skills and his general
poor health. His work represents the life of northern forest Cree. He is
a member of the Order of Canada.
Mary Two-Axe Early
Mary Two Axe married a non-Aboriginal and
lost her “official status” due to a clause in the Indian Act. Because
this seemed unjust, she took the case to the Royal Commission on the
Status of Women. After many years of appeals, she received reinstatement
as an “Indian” in 1985 and later was awarded the Governor Generals
Award.
Roy Henry Vickers
Roy Henry Vickers is a Tsimishian Canadian
born in British Columbia. He is internationally recognized as one of the
best native artists in the world. His work may be large–as in airports
and colleges, and smaller portraits and traditional patterns. He is a
founder of VisionQuest.
Walking Buffalo
Walking Buffalo is also known as George
McLean and Tatanga Mani. He was born by the Bow River in 1871, taught on
his reserve, worked in Calgary as a blacksmith and as a scout for the
North West Mounted Police. He participated in the buffalo hunt, became a
Medicine Man, used the dog travois and observed the development of the
Mounted Police and the signing of Treaty 7. He travelled the world with
the message to “stop hating each other and start being brothers the way
the Great Spirit intended.” He was known as the Ambassador of
Understanding. Walking Buffalo visited Buckingham Palace. It was
estimated that he had travelled 200,000 km by the time he was 87.
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