Yesterday was Tom Longboat’s 131st birthday. How do I know. Google Doodle. Longboat’s Iroquois name….Cogwagee…..part of the Onondaga which means Keepers of The Fire. Longboat was born in 1887 and raised on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford. Enrolled (a legal obligation under the Indian Act) at the Mohawk Institutional Residential School at the age of 12 he eventually escaped to an uncle’s home who agreed to hide him from the authorities. A long-distance runner, Longboat is considered by many to be the greatest marathoner of all time.
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 