Each year, the Aboriginal Sports Circle, a national organization dedicated to supporting and promoting Aboriginal sport, recreation, fitness and culture, recognizes Canada's top Aboriginal athletes through the Tom Longboat Awards. One male and one female athlete from each province and territory is chosen to receive a regional Tom Longboat Award, then a national male and a national female Tom Longboat Award winner are selected from among the regional recipients.

The awards are named in honour of Tom Longboat, a gifted long-distance runner from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, who in the early 1900s, made a name for himself as a gifted runner. During his athletic career, he set records and won races across North America and Europe, and always spoke proudly of his Aboriginal heritage. In addition to recognizing the country's top Aboriginal athletes, the Aboriginal Sports Circle also presents annual awards to the top regional and national Aboriginal coaches.

Doris Jones has won three world championships. And she has set a ridiculous amount of Canadian and world records. Yet the 18-year-old Metis archer from Selkirk, Man., considers her most recent accolade her greatest accomplishment. That would be winning the Tom Longboat Award as Canada's top Aboriginal female athlete for 2006.

Jones was presented with her national award during a banquet on May 3 in Prince Albert, Sask., held in conjunction with the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

Sid Smith, an Ontario-based lacrosse player from Six Nations, was the male athlete winner of the national Tom...