First Nations basketball player excluded from games, native identity questioned
VANCOUVER — Tattooed on Josiah Wilson’s chest is a fine line of writing that combines two significant dates: his birth and the death of his biological mother four days after he was born.
The 20-year-old, who was adopted as a baby from Haiti, also carries a status Indian card.
He is African by race — but legally, culturally and ethnically he identifies as a member of the Heiltsuk First Nation.
The mix is not common, but Wilson says he’s “never really had a problem with it” until earlier this week, when he was expelled from a popular First Nations basketball competition in northern British Columbia.