History Mystery
Which of these families from Canada’s past do you think are for real, and which might be made up by the Kayak team?
Kanienkehaka Trailblazers
Activist Kahentinetha Horn is probably best-known for helping lead the Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) people of Kanesatake in defending their ancestors’ burial place in 1990 when the town of Oka, Que., wanted to build on the land. Her four daughters have all done pretty cool things, too. Ojistoh Kahnawahere Horn is a medical doctor and Kahente Horn-Miller is a university professor. Waneek Horn-Miller was co-captain of Canada’s Olympic water polo team at the 2011 Olympics. Kaniehtiio Horn is a film and television actor and hosts a podcast where she interviews her famous mum.
Sisters on Display
Annette, Émilie, Yvonne, Cécile and Marie Dionne were born in May 1934 near North Bay, Ontario. They were the first quintuplets — five children born to one woman at the same time — in Canada. The provincial government built a place called Quintland where visitors could pay to see the little girls. Although they became world famous, for years their life was a bit like a zoo animal’s. Ontario earned millions but the Dionne quints saw almost none of it until the province gave the three remaining sisters a payment in 1999.
Political Actors
Tommy Douglas was premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and helped bring in medical care for all Canadians. His daughter Shirley Douglas is well-known for her acting on stage and in films, and has also worked for political causes. And her son is Kiefer Sutherland, star of many famous movies such as Stand by Me and Young Guns in the 1980s and 1990s as well as the television series 24.
Singing Together
There must be something especially musical about Cape Breton Island, N.S. It’s home to both The Rankins (also known as the Rankin Family) from Mabou, and the Barra MacNeils from Sydney Mines. The Rankins performed together from 1989 to 1999, and again in the early 2000s. The Barra MacNeils are still singing, step-dancing and playing everything from fiddles to flutes after more than 25 years.
Riding, Roping and Rodeo
Nearly everyone in the Simmental family of Red Deer, Alta., had a claim to fame on the rodeo circuit. Father Chester and mother Doris were world champion chuckwagon racers three times between 1922 and 1936. Son Corb was the top Canadian saddle bronc rider in 1947; his brother Johnny regularly won calf-roping competitions around the same time. Daughter Barb won several barrel-racing titles at rodeos in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the United States in the early 1950s.
Hockey Brothers
When Maurice “Rocket” Richard retired, he had more goals than anyone in National Hockey League history. The name of his younger brother, Henri “Pocket Rocket” Richard, appears on the Stanley Cup more than anyone else’s. The brothers both played for the Montreal Canadiens, and of course both are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.