Sam Laskaris – BEHIND THE ACTION – Tom Longboat

PTE Tom Longboat buys a newspaper from a French newspaper boy. June 1917 (Photo provided by Vimy Ridge Foundation)

By Sam Laskaris Writer He died almost 75 years ago. But Tom Longboat continues to put Six Nations on the map. That’s because it was announced on Monday that the National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) have joined forces for a campaign that will celebrate the contributions of Indigenous athletes not only in Canada but on international levels as well. Various TTC buses and streetcars will be specially wrapped and feature the images of eight Indigenous athletes, including Longboat. Longboat was the legendary Onondaga distance runner from Six Nations. He was the first Indigenous runner to win the Boston Marathon, capturing top honours in the famed race in 1907. Longboat died in 1949. But now, all these years later, those who don’t know about Longboat’s…

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