Horn-Miller in Working It Out Together

The Motivation of a Mohawk:  Waneek Horn-Miller Inspires First Nations to Exercise and Eat RightNative rights activist Waneek Horn-Miller, co-captain of the 2000 Olympic Canadian women’s water polo team, is back in action—this time, to help indigenous people reclaim their health.

She and her husband, former Olympic judo competitor Keith Morgan, have teamed up with the Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network (APTN), along with a group of health experts, to launch a multimedia, nationwide fitness and healthy-eating initiative. A six-part television series follows six Mohawks on their journeys to get healthy, while an interactive website encourages aboriginal youth and adults to make nutrition and exercise part of their daily lives.

Horn-Miller and her colleagues held casting calls to select six Mohawk people to star in the documentary series, called Working It Out Together, which aired September 6 to October 11 on APTN. With trainers and nutritionists, Horn-Miller coached and counseled the participants in exercise routines and eating right, as well as overcoming internal struggles that were holding them back from getting healthy, such as obesity, eating disorders, low self-esteem, busy schedules, substance abuse and lack of motivation.

The six-month journey of self-discovery revealed to participants, mentors and audiences how determination and dedication can lead to a total lifestyle transformation. “With a lot of issues such as obesity and lack of physical activity among aboriginal peoples, we are facing the symptom, not the core issue,” Horn-Miller said. “The symptoms are the external representation of stuff going on deep inside each person.”Comment:  For more on Native health, see "Swim for Life" from Alcatraz and It's Up 2 You Available.

Below:  "Waneek’s team won gold at the 1999 Pan American Games."