Joe Keeper

Who was Joe Keeper?

Joseph Benjamin Keeper was a Canadian long distance runner, and a member of the 1912 Canadian Olympic team.

Keeper, a member of the Norway House Cree First Nation, was born at Walker Lake, Manitoba. He was sent to Brandon for schooling at the Brandon Indian Residential School, and it was while there, at high school, that he showed an enthusiasm for long distance running.

In 1910, Keeper moved to Winnipeg, where he joined the North End Amateur Athletic Club. The following year he set a Canadian record for the ten mile run.

In 1912, he was selected to the Canadian Olympic team, and participated at the 1912 Summer Olympics at Stockholm, Sweden. He raced in the 5000 metre run and in the 10,000 metre run, where he finished fourth, the best result ever for a Canadian runner in that event.

In 1916, Keeper joined the Army, and served for two years in France. He received a Military Medal for his actions during the war. In 1917, Keeper joined with Tom Longboat to win an inter-Allied cross country championship near Vimy Ridge. Longboat, Keeper, and other First Nation long-distance runners A. Jamieson and John Nackaway served as despatch carriers for the 107th Pioneer Battalion.