{"id":105790,"date":"2026-06-15T14:38:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=105790"},"modified":"2026-06-15T14:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:38:44","slug":"mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattagami First Nation member credits sobriety, training for strong powerlifting start"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com \u200bMATTAGAMI FIRST NATION \u2013 Neebin Prince finished her first powerlifting competition with a perfect scorecard, three personal bests, and a message she hopes will inspire Indigenous youth. Prince, from Mattagami First Nation, completed all nine lifts at the Band of Barbells Spring Classic and finished with a total of 332.5 kilograms (733 pounds). For Prince, though, the achievement meant more than just numbers. She explained that this moment reflected years of hard work, rebuilding her life through sobriety, reconnecting with her culture, and showing that Indigenous athletes belong in any sport they choose. \u201cI got into a really bad situation with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction,\u201d she said. \u201cIn 2022, I gave it all up, and I started going to the gym, and… <\/p>\n

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By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com \u200bMATTAGAMI FIRST NATION \u2013 Neebin Prince finished her first powerlifting competition with a perfect scorecard, three personal bests, and a message she hopes will inspire Indigenous youth. Prince, from Mattagami First Nation, completed all nine lifts at the Band of Barbells Spring Classic and finished with a total of 332.5 kilograms (733 pounds). For Prince, though, the achievement meant more than just numbers. She explained that this moment reflected years of hard work, rebuilding her life through sobriety, reconnecting with her culture, and showing that Indigenous athletes belong in any sport they choose. \u201cI got into a really bad situation with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction,\u201d she said. \u201cIn 2022, I gave it all up, and I started going to the gym, and... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nMattagami First Nation member credits sobriety, training for strong powerlifting start - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mattagami First Nation member credits sobriety, training for strong powerlifting start - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com \u200bMATTAGAMI FIRST NATION \u2013 Neebin Prince finished her first powerlifting competition with a perfect scorecard, three personal bests, and a message she hopes will inspire Indigenous youth. Prince, from Mattagami First Nation, completed all nine lifts at the Band of Barbells Spring Classic and finished with a total of 332.5 kilograms (733 pounds). For Prince, though, the achievement meant more than just numbers. She explained that this moment reflected years of hard work, rebuilding her life through sobriety, reconnecting with her culture, and showing that Indigenous athletes belong in any sport they choose. \u201cI got into a really bad situation with alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction,\u201d she said. \u201cIn 2022, I gave it all up, and I started going to the gym, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T18:38:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T18:38:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Mattagami First Nation member credits sobriety, training for strong powerlifting start\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T18:38:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-15T18:38:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":754,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/mattagami-first-nation-member-credits-sobriety-training-for-strong-powerlifting-start\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mattagami First Nation member credits sobriety, training for strong powerlifting start - 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