Tla-o-qui-aht West Coast All Heart missed toppling the At’maakw Kingfishers dynasty by one bucket on March 20 during a thunderous U17 Girls Junior All Native basketball championship game at the Langley Events Centre.
At’maakw, from the Nuxalk Nation community of Bella Coola in the central coast region of British Columbia, hasn’t lost a U17 JANT title in five years.
“It was a crazy game,” said At’maakw player Kashlyn Mack, who picked up a JANT First Team All-Star.
At’maakw led by double digits for most of the game and heading into the final four minutes, they stretched the advantage by 17-points.
But the All Heart girls dug deep to pull off a wild fourth quarter comeback, reeling in the spread to two points as the clock drained to zero.
“That’s why I was scared. I feel like we would have done anything to not let them win,” said Mack.
The buzzer went off with a final score of 60-58 and At’maakw fans erupted with joy, spilling on to the court to celebrate with the team.
“It’s been a journey for us. This is all of our last year. Hopefully, our younger girls will step up and train as hard as we do. We put a lot into basketball. The work does show,” said Mack.
At'maakw’s Annika Parr led her team to victory with 27 points. She was named the U17 Girls top scorer and Most Valuable Player.
Tla-o-qui-aht dad Dwayne Martin was choking back tears after watching his daughters Wiinuk (NuNu) and Helen play in the JANT final.
“It’s a win no matter what that scoreboard said. There’s a lot of excitement at home,” said Martin.
Martin is a Christie Residential School survivor and lives in the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations community of Ty-Histanis near Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. His daughters are of Tla-o-qui-aht and Makah Tribe ancestry. They both live in Neah Bay, Washington, with their mom Stephanie Martin. Even though the Makah Tribe is separated by the U.S. – Canada border, they share the same cultural foundation as Nuu-chah-nulth Nations. In favourable conditions, Martin says he can do the trip to Neah Bay from the west coast in a speed boat in about four hours.
The Martin’s residency stirred controversy and lit up social media as JANT player eligibility rules state that: “all players must reside in the Province of British Columbia at least three months prior to tournament.”
“The rules on eligibility need to be explored,” said JANT co-host and Vancouver Bandits team president Dylan Kular.
He noted that no formal protest was submitted to the JANT committee and “all the coaches knew and were cool with it.”
The Martin family are descendants from the House of Iiwasaht and uupwinhnaasas, and Wiinuk was named after her grandmother, who held two seats in Tla-o-qui-aht.
“They were Tla-o-qui-aht before they were Makah even though they were born in the states. I called my nation right away,” said Martin.
“I was talking to NuNu about developing the killer instinct and I could see it on the court. It brought tears to my eyes,” he said. “My kids are ten times better than I ever was at sports because I played sports to prove things. They can just be themselves and it shows how exceptional they are.”
Wiinuk earned a First Team All-Star alongside teammate Kionah Williams. Jaysen Touchie, who recently helped the Hesquiaht Descendants rally to second at the All Native Basketball Tournament, won Best Defensive player and a Second Team All-Star.
After the awards ceremony, an emotional West Coast All Heart coach Catherine Thomas shared that the meaning of “All Heart” comes from her cousin Travis Thomas. Travis is an Ahousaht member who went missing from the remote Bartlett Island in the summer of 2018.
“He’s been a huge inspiration in basketball. He used to go to the All Native and he used to coach the boys. He was like a brother to me,” said Thomas.
During her first year at the All Native tournament up in Prince Rupert over a decade ago, Thomas shared she was representing the Wild Women, a small team from Tofino.
“I was so tired because we were game after game after game. My legs were tired. They were dead. I remember on the sidelines, Travis was going, “All heart, now. All heart. You gotta go.” I gave it my all. We left there happy,” said Thomas.
She said the player eligibility controversy made for a “difficult” week. The All Heart team also picked up a player with Tla-o-qui-aht roots who lives in Alberta.
“Coming in knowing that we were as risk of being protested or disqualified, I was hurt. I was hurt that the two girls were being questioned because they played with us last year with no discouragement. I felt like it was very discriminating for our nation, for our bloodline,” said Thomas, who is of Ahousaht descent and partnered with a Tla-o-qui-aht member. They live in the Ty-Histanis with their family.
‘I would like a gym’
Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation is the only community nation at JANT that does not have a gymnasium, says Thomas. They are currently working towards building a gym in Ty-Histanis.
“I wish we had more support and of course, I would like a gym. We utilize what we have. We have a beach, we have Tofino and Ucluelet, but not consistent. We have an outside court in Esowista that we use. Me and my girls were running the hills in Esowista,” said Thomas.
“There is a lot of talk at home about our community not having a gym,” said Martin. “Look at how far our kids are coming along without access to a gym.”
The At’maakw dynasty team has aged out of JANT now, leaving the door wide open for any U17 girls team to swoop in and nab the 2027 banner.
