Canada’s basketball team member explores her Anishinabek roots
By Laura Robinson
TORONTO – Wow—for the first time ever Canada’s women’s basketball team won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games, beating USA in the final. And this after four wins in four nights against Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Brazil. Miah Maria Langlois of Windsor, Ontario who just started digging into her Anishinabek roots, was on the golden team.
The day after Canada’s historic win, which took place in front of a packed gym at Ryerson University, Langlois focuses on another quest—not for gold but for ancestors. “I’m going through a cultural rediscovery on my mother’s side. It wasn’t until some of my relatives passed away and things started to become ‘unhidden’ like status cards that I realized we were part First Nations. It’s really very exciting because we are also African and French and my father was from Guyana. My uncle recently found out that our ancestors helped start the North American Indian Brotherhood, but unfortunately the government didn’t recognize it. I love to know about these things.”
The government certainly has to now as the Brotherhood, which was founded in the late 1940’s, became the AFN. It’s a past that excites Langlois. Her uncle Jason Jenkins is the associate producer of the Pan Am Game’s Aboriginal Pavilion, and she’s looking forward to doing more research with him after the America’s qualifier to the Olympics which takes place in Edmonton in August. The Americans as the reigning world champions are already selected. Only the top team at the Americas tournament will be selected for. Canada plays Mexico, all of the South American teams and Caribbean teams for that one spot. Langlois is looking forward to it.
“I don’t really go in thinking ‘We have to win this.’ It’s sport. You don’t go to a competition thinking anything except you are going to win. It’s up to the women’s national team to keep up the skill and talent” says Langlois, adding that the women’s world cup of soccer showed Canadians what’s possible from women athletes. Langlois was also on the University of Windsor’s fabled women’s basketball team that won five national titles in a row. She was there for four of them and graduated with a business degree. Three years ago she was told there was an open try-out for the women’s national team in Toronto. Two of her friends and she decided to go. One friend made the junior national team while Langlois and the other friend made the Development Team and the Canadian team to the World Student Games in China. This was the gateway to the senior women’s National Team, which she made the next year. Once she was on the national team, she was carded by Sport Canada, which meant she receives a monthly “salary” and all her competition expenses are paid for. In 2014 she was on the team that placed 5th at the World Championships in Turkey. Langlois also plays professionally on a team in Russia.
Much as she loves to talk about basketball, the newly found knowledge about her past fascinates Langlois. “I grew up in Windsor and it’s a very multi-cultural city. My mother always told us we were part Ojibway. People are from everywhere there but I feel quite proud to say I am mixed Ojibway. Really knowing where you come from—it’s important. I am following in my uncle’s footsteps. We weren’t rich—we actually lived in poverty when I grew up. But my mother is completely awesome. She sacrificed a lot and made sure we were in sport. She knew it would keep us on a good path. There were four of us so we could play with one another, you know you just play.
“I’d tell kids now keep on working on it. The doors kept opening for me—stick with a dream or hard work and good things will come out of it. Believe in yourself. Be confident with who you are because who you are will get you to where you need to be. I like who I am; I’m confident with who I am.”