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Tom Longboat, Canadian Indigenous running hero, celebrated in Heritage Minute

One of Canada’s all-time greatest distance runners will be further honored this June 4th with a Heritage Minute. The Minute, produced by Historica Canada, is a program created to help viewers learn and reflect about Canadian history. June 4th is celebrated in Ontario as Tom Longboat day, and commemorative events are held by the Six Nations to pay tribute to him yearly.

Longboat won his first race, a 5 miler, in 1906, and his running career expanded from there.  The Onondaga distance runner was born in 1886 on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve near Brantford, Ont.

Longboat was sent to residential school in Brantford at a young age, and ran away twice before finding a settled home with a relative. His athletic skills began to gain him renown after his first win in Caledonia. He continued on to win the 1906 Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, and won the Ward Marathon in Toronto from 1906-1908.

Longboat earned international respect when he won the Boston Marathon in 1907, at the age of 19. He broke the course record at the time by over 5 minutes, and won the race in 2:24:24. Longboat competed in the Olympic marathon in 1908, where he unexpectedly collapsed close to the finish. He turned professional shortly afterwards and was the World Champion in 1909.

Despite facing racism and discrimination at his races, Longboat won almost every race he entered. Throughout his career he broke every Canadian running record from mile to marathon.

Longboat enlisted in the military in 1916, and served at Vimy Ridge and Passchendale.

Historica Canada produced the upcoming Heritage Minute in collaboration with Indigenous-owned production company Nish Media. Anthony Wilson-Smith, president of Historica Canada, describes Longboat as a “world champion runner, a pioneer in training methods, a war hero, and an inspiration for his resilience against discrimination.” Wilson-Smith adds, “He inspires athletes across Canada to this day.”

Onscreen, Longboat is portrayed by Joshua Odjick, a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation. The Heritage Minute was created by a predominantly Indigenous crew. Odjick describes his role re-enacting “someone as legendary as Longboat” as an honour, and emphasizes the challenges Longboat overcame in his lifetime.

Longboat passed away in 1949, and was inducted into both Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and Canada’s Olympic Hall of fame after his death. The Tom Longboat Heritage Minute will be available to view on the Historica Canada website, social media, and on Youtube.