Ahousaht First Nation member Aaron Keitlah is about to embark on his second trip to the North American Indigenous Games as a wrestling coach with Team BC.
Keitlah, who is an alumnus of the powerhouse Alberni Wrestling Club, capped off his high school career with a trip to the Nationals in 2004, the year he graduated. He has since served the team as a coach, when available, while completing his education at the University of Victoria.
“I never competed at NAIG, but this is my second time coaching,” he said. “My first trip was in Cowichan in 2008. There’s been a bit of a gap since.”
Aaron’s mother, Wilma, is once again serving as team manager. She assumed the duties when NAIG was held in Denver in 2006 and in Cowichan in 2008.
“My grandson, Isaiah Taylor, competed at both. He won silver in Denver and took the gold in Cowichan. He beat a Kahnawake Mohawk.”
The City of Milwaukee was set to host the Games in 2011, but pulled out in 2010. A scaled-back version of NAIG was organized in the city, but it wasn’t as big an event as has come to be expected
“Canada has an easier time organizing NAIG. In the U.S., they don’t receive any government support,” Wilma explained.
Team BC is sending five wrestlers to the event, which is being held in Regina. Two of the members, David Wilson and Russell David, are Nuu-chah-nulth members of the Alberni Wrestling Club.
Sharing the coaching duties with Aaron is Kaitlyn Charlie, a member of Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation. Last weekend, they coached at the annual summer Wrestling Camp hosted by the Alberni club, at which all five NAIG Team BC competitors took part.
Charlie, who grew up in Victoria, has a long history in the sport, including one year on the national team, and has maintained a relationship with the Alberni Wrestling Club over the years.
“I wrestled from 11 to 20 in Victoria. I attended NAIG as an athlete when it was held there in 1997 – I was 13,” she said. “I won Nationals three times, in 1997, 1999 and 2001. In my last year of Nationals I wrestled Ashley Cross; I was fortunate enough to beat her.”
Ashley is the younger sister of Port Alberni Olympian Travis Cross, and the rivals remained friends.
“I used to billet with the Crosses when I attended the Wrestling Camp.”
Charlie attended the University of Alberta and now teaches at Esquimalt High School.
That is the route Aaron is following. He is currently completing his BC teaching certification.
“After high school, I attended North Island College for a year-and-a-half before going to UVic,” he said. “I’m going to be teaching social studies. My first degree was in geography with a minor in Indigenous Studies.”
He acknowledges that with declining enrollment in most communities, the job market is pretty tough for teachers coming out of university, and he knows he may have to leave Port Alberni to find employment.
But having a First Nations background should help. Being a certified high school wrestling coach with international experience and a connection with one of Canada’s top wrestling programs can’t hurt, either.
He has already made his name known in his home community of Ahousaht.
“I visited the school [Maaqtusiis] last winter and talked to them about teaching there. Or, they talked to me about teaching there.”
Aaron and Wilma say they are able to visit Ahousaht “every now and then,” and they are able to maintain family and cultural connections.
Wrestling can be a consuming sport for an athlete. Wilma was asked if there was any conflict over the years as a result of Aaron’s wrestling career.
“There were a couple of times there were funerals I wanted to go to: Art Thompson’s, when we went to Calgary; Linda Watts’, when we went to Cowichan,” she said. “But other than that, it’s been pretty balanced. It’s been lots of family support and community support. Both grandfathers will chip in and help us out.”
Aaron was asked to rate his own traditional cultural literacy.
“I’d say ‘average,’” he said. While he has learned plenty of songs, he admits he can’t perform any traditional dances.
“Well, they say you’re either a singer or a dancer,” he quipped.
Both are looking forward to NAIG, although they have been warned to bring plenty of sunscreen and mosquito repellent. Wilma noted that wrestling is not a core NAIG sport, so the number of competitors is small compared to basketball or baseball.
“When I went to Denver, it was school-age to adult. This year, it’s just Cadet (17-18),” she explained. “The first year, it was like a Multiplex event, like the Alberni Invitational. In Cowichan, it was more like the Islands.”
On July 19, Team BC will assemble at Vancouver International Airport before boarding four charter aircraft for the flight to Regina. All told, 500 people will make the trip, including athletes, coaches and support staff.
“We [Team BC] have a hotel to ourselves. They’ll have male floors and female floors. They try to keep them separate,” Wilma said, with a chuckle.
