Beverly "Bev" Beaver (born 1947) is a Mohawk Canadian athlete from the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, known for her performance in fastball, hockey, and bowling.[1][2] Beaver was born to Reg and Norma Henhawk and had four siblings, Sidney Henhawk, Charlene Nuttycombe, Toni Johnson, and Justine Bomberry.[3] Beaver's competed as a professional athlete from 1961 to 1994.[4] She is known to have developed her athletic skills by playing sports with boys throughout her childhood, even becoming a prominent player on a boy's bantam hockey team at age 13.[4] Beaver played exclusively on Native fastball teams; however, she has played on non-Native teams in other sports.[4] Throughout her career she earned awards such as the Regional Tom Longboat Award for Southern Ontario (1967) and the National Tom Longboat Award (1980).[5] Beaver is credited with earning other awards for performance in fastball, hockey, and bowling.[2][4][6] Some of her hockey artifacts are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, in its diversity exhibit.[7]
Softball
Beaver softball/fastball was a pitcher for the All-Native team the Ohsweken Mohawks.[1] She is credited as being a star player, excelling in both pitching and batting. In 1980, the Mohawks competed in the National Indian Activities Association women's softball tournament in Anadarko, Oklahoma.[8] Beaver was pitcher for the Mohawks during the tournament, the team won five straight victories and first place in the tournament.[8] Despite being offered a position on a non-Native team, the Toronto Carpetland, Beaver competed exclusively on All-Native softball teams.[4] She has commended the Ohsweken Mohawks for being an All-Native team, remarking that the team exemplified the competitive spirit of sport without athletes from outside of their community.[4]
Hockey
Beaver only competed within the Euro-Canadian sport system throughout her nearly thirty year career as a professional hockey player, playing for the Burlington Gazettes and the Brantfort Lady Blues.[4] In 1990, the Brantfort Lady Blues went on to winning the Ontario Ladies Hockey League Championships, both Beaver and her daughter were members of this team.[4]
Bowling
Beaver is noted for maintaining a high female average and high triple score for all but one year from 1969 to 1974.[6] She also earned a "high triple score" in Ontario Indian Bowling Championship in 1973.[6]
Awards
Beaver is credited with earning many awards throughout her career as a professional athlete. As a softball player she won the most valuable player award eight times from 1962 through 1980.[2] In 1979 she was awarded for being the best pitcher, top batter, and most valued player in the Canadian Native Championship in Kelowna, British Columbia.[4] In hockey, she amassed five most valuable player awards and five top scorer awards between 1966 and 1980.[6] Notably, Beaver is a recipient of both the regional and National Tom Longboat Awards.[5] The Tom Longboat Awards are given to elite Indigenous Canadian athletes as recognition for achievement in sport.[9] Beaver was awarded the Regional Tom Longboat Award in 1967 for Southern Ontario.[5][6] In 1980, she was awarded the National Tom Longboat Award, after being nominated by Tom Longboat Jr.[5][10] She was inducted into the Brantfort and Area Sports Hall of Recognition in 1995.[7] The Hockey Hall of Fame included her hockey jerseys and badges in its diversity exhibit in 2018, in recognition of her outstanding competitive hockey career spanning forty years.[11]
References
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