Waneek Horn-Miller (born November 30, 1975) is a Canadian
water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...
player from the
Kahnawake Mohwak Territory.
She was a member of the Canadian women's water polo team that won a gold medal at the
1999 Pan American Games
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...
in Winnipeg. Horn-Miller also became the first Mohawk woman from Canada to ever compete in the Olympic games. She was named an inductee for Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in the athlete category in 2019.
Sporting career
Waneek Horn-Miller was a key member of the Canadian women's water polo team that won gold at the 1999 Pan Am Games. Voted MVP, Horn-Miller became co-captain and proudly led her team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the first year the Olympics included women’s water polo. The team finished fifth in Sydney. In 2000, she was awarded a
National Aboriginal Achievement Award
The Indspire Awards, until 2012 the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, are annual awards presented by Indspire in Canada. The awards are intended to celebrate and encourage excellence in the Aboriginal community.
About
The awards were fi ...
in the Youth category. She went on to help Canada win a bronze medal at the 2001 FINA World Championships.
Horn-Miller was known for her fierce competitive spirit and powerful shooting arm.
After 9 years as a member of national program Horn-Miller was dismissed by Water Polo Canada, with the organization citing team cohesion problems.
Horn-Miller was outspoken about the dismissal, accusing the organization of racism.
She challenged the claim and all parties, including national team coaches, athletes, and Horn-Miller, agreed to arbitration using the alternate dispute resolution system for sport.
In 2004, Horn-Miller did not return to the team and her coaches and teammates were required to undergo cultural sensitivity training and Aboriginal sensitivity training.
It was revealed that the members of her team thought that she was "intimidating" and they were not comfortable around her.
Horn-Miller began her athletic career as a competitive swimmer at the age of 7. She switched to water polo while attending Carleton University in Ottawa, where she studied political science.
Horn-Miller graduated from Carleton as a three-time athlete of the year. She is a member of the Carleton Ravens Hall of Fame. Between 1990 and 1997, Horn-Miller has participated in the North American Indigenous Games and won over 20 gold medals, including one for rifle shooting.
In 1999, Horn-Miller won the national
Tom Longboat Award
The Tom Longboat Awards were established in 1951 to recognize Aboriginal athletes "for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada" and continues "to honour Indigenous athletes across Canada" annually. As a program of the Aboriginal Sport ...
that recognizes Aboriginal athletes for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada. In 2006, Horn-Miller was selected as a torchbearer for the
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, Italy.
Professional career
![Inaugural Order of Sport Honours - Toronto - October 23, 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Inaugural_Order_of_Sport_Honours_-_Toronto_-_October_23%2C_2019.jpg)
In 2008, Horn-Miller served as a broadcaster for
CBC Sports
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...
at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, held in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
In October 2011, Horn-Miller teamed up with the Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network to launch a fitness and healthy-eating initiative called Working It Out Together, which follows six Mohawks on their pursuit of better health.
Horn-Miller has also served as a motivational speaker. In 2014, she spoke to 18,000 youth from more than 1,000 schools across North America at WE Day in Toronto, with a message about overcoming obstacles and promoting positive social change in Indigenous communities in Canada.
She fights against racism since she had received unfair treatment as an indigenous athlete. She is trying to help other young indigenous athletes to work hard for what they want to achieve despite the racism they may face.
As an influential speaker for the younger generation of Mohawks, she tries to motivate and be the role model for the kids to be hard-working and determined to achieve all their goals, just as she did as an indigenous athlete. Horn-Miller was herself inspired by Mohawk Olympian
Alwyn Morris. Following his advice, she worked to share her achievements in hopes of inspiring others to reach for their dreams.
In November 2014, Horn-Miller was selected as an assistant chef de mission for the Canadian contingent that competed at the 2015 Pan American Games. In addition to serving as a mentor for the athletes, this volunteer position was responsible for promoting the Pan Am Games at various events and also communicating with various sporting bodies to ensure their athletes needs are being met.
In 2015 Horn-Miller was named one of Canada's most influential women in sport by the Canadian Association for Advancement of Women and Sport.
Horn-Miller also served as an ambassador for Nike's Native American initiative, Nike N7. She is currently a brand ambassador for Manitobah Mukluks and director of their Storyboot School. She is a 2019 inductee into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Horn-Miller is the daughter of former model and
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
activist
Kahn-Tineta Horn and George Miller (Mohawk educator and academic), and the half-sister of actress
Kaniehtiio Horn
Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn (''née'' Batt; ; born November 8, 1986), sometimes credited to as Tiio Horn, is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for a Gemini Award for her role in the television film '' Moccasin Flats: Redemption'' and sh ...
. She was present at the
Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 day ...
in the occupational camp as a 14-year-old. On the 78th and last day of the standoff, as the occupiers were walking out there was a physical altercation between soldiers and Mohawk warriors; a soldier stabbed Waneek near the heart with a bayonet as she carried her sister, and she nearly died as a result.
During her 2000 Olympic campaign Horn-Miller appeared
nude
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing.
The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
, except for a water polo ball and a feather, on the cover of
''Time'' magazine.
In 2014, Horn-Miller was one of seven people suing the Kahnawake Mohawk Council over the "marry out, stay out" policy, which prevents Mohawks who marry non-Mohawks from staying in the territory.
In February 2017, Horn-Miller was announced as the director of community engagement for the
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Horn-Miller stepped down from the inquiry in August.
There was controversy surrounding the operations and a coalition of family members, activists and academics sent a letter to Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
demanding the "deeply misguided" inquiry get a hard reset.
See also
*
Canada women's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horn-Miller, Waneek
Canadian female water polo players
Water polo players from Montreal
First Nations sportspeople
Canadian Mohawk people
Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada
Water polo players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Olympic water polo players of Canada
20th-century First Nations people
21st-century First Nations people
Living people
1975 births
Native American sportspeople
World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo
Indspire Awards
Pan American Games medalists in water polo
Water polo players at the 1999 Pan American Games
Carleton Ravens players
Stabbing survivors
Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games
Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke
Anglophone Quebec people
20th-century Canadian women
First Nations women