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- Wilton Littlechild | NAIAHF
Wilton Littlechild Category Builder Tribe Cree Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 4/1/1944 An Indigenous lawyer of Cree ancestry, bestowed as Honourary Cree Chief and International Chief, Wilton Littlechild was elected a Member of Parliament in Canada and Vice-President of the Indigenous Parliament of the Americas. Known for his advocacy, nationally and internationally on Human Rights and Traditional Games and Sports. Born in Maskwacis (Treaty No. 6), raised by his grandparents but taken at the age of six where he spent fourteen years in the Indian Residential School system. He witnessed and experienced various forms of abuse but was also introduced to sports, which he used to motivate his pursuit of excellence and run from abuse. He eventually excelled academically and in athletics; credits his traditional upbringing to seek balance in life; underpinned by spirituality and family support. Achievements: • Ten Athlete of the Year Awards • Holds three University and five Honorary Doctorate degrees (Physical Education, Law) • Eight Sports Halls of Fame • University of Alberta Most Outstanding Indian Athlete in Canada (twice) • Major Sports: Hockey, Baseball, Swimming • Centennial medal - Top 100 in Hockey • Order of Sport as inductee to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame • Over seventy-five Championships • Twice honoured in Switzerland and Olympic Games Ambassador Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More
- Delby Powless | NAIAHF
Delby Powless Category Athlete Tribe Mohawk Year Inducted 2022 Delby Powless is member of the Mohawk Nation. He is a Youth Counselor in his home community, Six Nations of the Grand River, in Ontario, Canada. He graduated from Bellevue University with a Bachelors degree in Child Protection and Juvenile Justice and from Wilfred Laurier University in Children’s Mental Health. In high school Powless participated in multiple sports including lacrosse, hockey, football and wrestling. In wrestling he was a Provincial Champion and a Canadian National Silver Medalist. Powless played five seasons with the Six Nations Junior A Arrows lacrosse club and is currently the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 686 total points. While attending Herkimer County Community College, Powless was twice named All-American. He transferred to D1 Rutgers University where he led the Scarlet Knights in scoring both years and was a 2x All-American, while leading Rutgers to 2 NCAA tournament appearances. Powless also won a Canadian University lacrosse championship with Brock University and was named All-Canadian. Powless represented the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team as a player at six World Championships, and at the first-ever World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, he was selected to the All-World Team. In 2003 Powless was named the recipient of the Tom Longboat Award as Canada’s Top Aboriginal Athlete. He was drafted 1st overall in the 2004 National Lacrosse League entry draft by the Buffalo Bandits and helped them win the Champions Cup in 2008. Powless also played in Major League Lacrosse with Toronto Nationals winning the Steinfeld Cup in 2009. Powless was the head coach of Hagersville Secondary School Men’s Lacrosse teams for 8 seasons leading them to 5 consecutive Provincial Championships. He also coached the Iroquois Nationals U-19 Men’s Lacrosse team at the 2012 World Championships to a Bronze medal in Turku, Finland. Powless recently released his first novel about lacrosse titled “Medicine Game”. Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More
- Earl Sargent | NAIAHF
Earl Sargent Category Athlete Tribe Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 2/1/1955 - 8/4/2012 Earl excelled in high school sports for Bemidji High School, lettering in football, hockey and baseball. In 1973 he was pitcher for the Lumberjacks baseball team, he threw a no hitter first game of the tournament, and they then went on to win the State Tournament. His high school resume includes four trips to the state baseball tournament. Hockey was his first love, and after High School he pursued his hockey career. He signed with the Fargo/Moorhead Sugar Kings 1973-1975, where he was selected to play on the U.S. National Hockey team in Leningrad, Russia. He played one year each in the minor hockey leagues as a winger for the Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Albuquerque Chaparrals. He also played with teams in San Diego and Pennsylvania. Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More
- Kelly Babstock, Anishinaabe from the Unceded Territory of Wikwemikong
< Back Kelly Babstock Kelly Babstock Anishinaabe from the Unceded Territory of Wikwemikong Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Kelly Babstock fell in love with hockey at a very young age, her desire and want to play the sport grew naturally. Kelly always made it very clear to her parents how much she loved the sport before even knowing how to play it. It was when she asked her father to take her out skating, without ever skating before. She put on her first pair of skates and naturally glided on the ice and that was the night where Kelly Babstock took her first step in becoming the natural born athlete she is today. Kelly is a native to Toronto, Ontario. Once she became of age she joined the Jr. league and she had started her career with the Toronto Jr. Aeros, and continued on to Quinnipiac University. In her four years with the team she would become the program’s all-time leader in goals (95), assists (108) and points (203). She helped lead the team to their first NCAA tournament berth in program history and was also the finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award. After her collegiate career, Kelly would move to the professional ranks and join the Connecticut Whale of the NWHL in 2015, and be named to the 2017 and 2018 NWHL All-Star games. She is currently playing in her seventh season in the league with the Metropolitan Riveters. Kelly was featured in Sports Illustrated following her outstanding college hockey career. Kelly was inducted into the LNHL Hall of Fame. Kelly has always been an inspiration for the indigenous community by having hockey camps and creating awareness on her social media platforms. With Kelly’s continuous growth she strives to create a stronger Indigenous platform, influencing the youth to find their love for the sport and to flourish from it. <Back
- Craig Berube | NAIAHF
Craig Berube Category Coach Tribe Cree Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 12/17/1965 Craig Berube is the head coach of the National Hockey Leagues (NHL) St. Louis Blues. Since taking over the team during the 2018-19 season, the team was in last place and then led the team to a 38-19-6 record. One of the biggest turnarounds in NHL history occurred and the St. Louis Blues finished as the first in franchise history the winners of the Stanley Cup. He originally joined the Blues as an associate head coach in 2017. Before joining the Blues, he served as the head coach of the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves. He played 17 seasons in the NHL in over 1000 games between 1986-2004 for the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders. Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More
- Tanner Albers | NAIAHF
Tanner Albers Category Athlete Tribe Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 2/12/1977 - 2/2/2010 Tanner Albers was a team captain for the 1994 and 1995 Boys Basketball Teams at Takini High in South Dakota. In both of those years he was the team’s leading scorer, earning All-State and All-Tournament honors while leading the Skyhawks to back-to-back state tournament appearances. He was also a team captain for the 1997-98 United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) Thunderbirds where he led them to the school’s first Junior College National Tournament appearance. That year he earned 1st Team Mon-Dak All-Region, Mon-Dak Region 8 Player of the Year, and was the school’s first, 1st Team All-American. Tanner is currently still the school’s all-time leading scorer UTTC. Tanner played for the Division I Delaware State University Hornets for the 1998-99 season and finished up his collegiate basketball career at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. Up until his passing in 2010, Tanner had traveled across North America, playing in many basketball tournaments with teams Iron 5, Iron Boy, Rim Rats, Pure Method, and many others. He would often receive MVP, All-Star, and others honors because of his amazing scoring and shooting talents. He had the opportunity to coach at the collegiate level and was a co-creator of HOOPGOD Basketball Camps. Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More
- Athletes | NAIAHF
Athletes Angelo Baca Diné/Hopi Brent Reiter Menominee Dean Hill Mohawk Eddie Lone Eagle Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Gewas Schindler Oneida Jeff Shattler Ojibwa Kali “KO” Mequinonoag Reis Seaconke Wampanoag Leanne Sirup Inuit Neal Powless Onondaga Shayna Powless Oneida Awehiyo Thomas Cayuga Carol Pickett Hull Inupiaq Delby Powless Mohawk Ernie Stevens Jr. Oneida Henry Boucha Ojibwe Jim Neilson Big River First Nation Katie Taylor Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Liz Duval Metis Neilson Powless Oneida Tanner Albers Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Becki Wells Staley Blackfeet and Blood Carolyn Darbyshire-McRorie Metis Drew Bucktooth Oneida Gary Sargent Red Lake Ojibwe Jack Powless Oneida Joy SpearChief-Morris Blackfoot (Kainai) Kayla Gardner Eagle Lake First Nation Martin Wheelock Oneida Nicole Johnson Inupiaq Terae Briggs Crow Brady Fairbanks Leech Lake Ojibwe David Powless Oneida Earl Sargent Red Lake Band of Ojibwe George "Comanche Boy" Tahdooahnippah Comanche James Lavallée Métis J.R. Conrad Eastern Shawnee Kyle Ḵaayák’w Worl Tlingit, Deg Hit’an Athabascan and Yup'ik Maurice “Mo” Smith Navajo Rob McClain Muscogee Creek/Red Lake Ojibwe
- Dean Hill, Mohawk
< Back Dean Hill Dean Hill Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 Dean Hill excelled at hockey and lacrosse growing up in the Six Nations of the Grand River community. Hill enjoyed a very successful Jr. B lacrosse career with the Six Nations Rebels and the St. Catharines Spartans, which led him to being drafted by the Minnesota Swarm of the National Lacrosse League. Hill would play 10 seasons in the NLL recording 247 points in the regular season and adding 12 more in the playoffs. Hill was known as a power play specialist who many considered to have the best one-timer in the game. In his second NLL season he led the Minnesota Swarm with 32 goals with 12 of them coming on the power play. Hill won a Canadian University Lacrosse Championship with Brock University and a Canadian Sr. B Championship with the St. Regis Braves. He also helped the Iroquois Nationals win two Silver Medals at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in 2007 and 2011. In the 2007 gold medal game with Canada leading the Iroquois 14-13, Dean Hill scored with 5 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game. Canada would go on to win the game 15-14 in sudden death overtime. That game is still considered one of the most thrilling indoor lacrosse games ever played. Hill was known for being a great teammate and for his high lacrosse IQ. Upon his retirement from playing he made a seamless transition from player to coach and embarked on a very successful coaching career. He won two Canadian Championship Minto Cups with the Six Nations Jr. A Arrows in 2015 and 2017 and led the Six Nations Rebels to a silver medal finish in the Founders Cup Jr. B Canadian Championships in 2019. Sadly, Dean Hill passed away due to complications in his sleep September 6, 2021 at the age of 36. <Back
- August Wesley, Narragansett
August Wesley <Back Narragansett Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach/Athlete 2025 August Wesley is an international wrestler and head coach. He is a Narragansett Indian and given the name Hiawatha in representing the tribe located in Charlestown, Rhode Island. August is an accomplished wrestler that represented Team USA six times including the UWW Veteran World Championships. He is a gold medalist competing for Sunkist and also won six USA Greco-Roman National Team Championships. Wesley is a highly decorated coach with over 30 years coaching experience. He was selected 14 times to lead USA teams at international competition in 27 countries on five continents. He has led USA teams to five team titles, twice in Australia, and in Germany, Austria and Hungary. Nationally he offers technical wrestling clinics and motivational speaking. Wesley was selected to coach at the US Olympic Training Center. He has a Bronze Certification with USA Wrestling, accredited interscholastic certification, and is a former member of the California Coaches Association. These credentials and achievements culminated in his selection as a state representative for USA GRIT (Greco-Roman Initiative Team) for his years of dedication and development of the sport. Wesley was nominated as the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Coach of the Year. He received West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors, and named a two-time college coach of the year at Sacramento State University after winning two California State Championships. While at Iowa State University as Head Club Coach they achieved five All Americans, qualified 24 wrestlers to the national's, and also winning the Great Plains Conference team title. He earned international success as the outstanding freestyle coach, leading Team USA to a championship trophy in Austria and Australia. Wesley accumulated over 145 high school wins and has guided many wrestlers to receiving NCAA Division 1 scholarships through his club California Elite. He served as assistant coach at the Senior Nationals and Sierra College capturing the California State Championship. He was the head coach for CPV at the 2022 and 2023 UWW World Championships in Europe. Wesley also coached the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Continental Championships in Africa and 2024 Paris Olympic Qualifiers. He serves as the Cabo Verde Secretary General and President of referees commission for Africa. Wesley was nominated to the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements.
- Joe Hipp, Blackfeet
< Back Joe Hipp Joe Hipp Blackfeet Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Joe Hipp aka Joe "The Boss" Hipp was born on the Blackfeet reservation in Browning, Montana and raised in Yakima Washington. At eight years old he became an amateur boxer and by the end of his amateur career his record was 119-9. At his first bout as a professional in the ring his wife nicknamed him “the boss”. By the end of his professional career his record was 43-7 with 29 knockouts. In 2009 he was inducted into the American Indian Hall of Fame. In 1999 he won the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Heavyweight Championship making him the first Native American Heavyweight Champion of the World. In 1996 he won the Western U.S. Heavyweight Championship, in 1994 the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) title, and in 1991 the WBF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. He was married 40 years to his late wife Barbara and they have four kids between them including Christina, Zack and twins Vanessa and Sophia along with 11 grandchildren, and one great grandson. When he retired from boxing he created the All Nations Foundation to encourage Native American youth to strive for achievement and excellence in academics as well as physical and mental health. He also speaks on suicide prevention and awareness. His and his daughters do motivational speaking at schools, youth centers and conventions about their experiences with suicide in their community. They created a scholarship called "Keeping the Dream Alive" in memory of his first granddaughter Alexandria Cole who was the 2012 Chief Leshi’s Daffodil Princess. <Back
- Sam McCracken | NAIAHF
Sam McCracken Category Builder Tribe Sioux and Assiniboine, Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 7/19/1960 Sam McCracken, is a member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes in northeastern Montana on the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation and the General Manager of Nike N7. He also serves as the Vice Chair of the board for the Center for Native American Youth. McCracken started with Nike in 1997. He became the Manager of Nike’s Native American Business in 2000 and led the development of the Nike Air Native N7 shoe, the retail collection and the fund which provides access to sport for Native American and Indigenous youth in North America. Since 2009, the fund has awarded more than $8 million in grants to Tribal communities, reaching more than 500,000 youth. McCracken received Nike’s Bowerman Award in 2004, named after Nike co-founder and track and field coach Bill Bowerman. He was honored by the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge with the George Washington Honor Medal in 2004. In 2007, he was coined a "corporate change maker" and named among the 20 most innovative global “Intrapreneurs” by sustainability.com. He worked with Nike to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Health Service in 2003 and 2009, and with the Bureau of Indian Education in 2010 bringing access to sport for Native American communities. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Council on Indian Education in 2010 and received the President’s "Leadership Award" from the National Indian Gaming Association in 2010. More recently, McCracken and N7 received the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s 2019 Corporate Business of the Year award and in 2020, McCracken was inducted into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2022, McCracken was honored by the World Economic Forum as the Schwab Foundation’s Social Intrapreneur of the Year. Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More
- Gewas Schindler | NAIAHF
Gewas Schindler Category Athlete Tribe Oneida Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 3/28/1976 Gewas Schindler is a Haudenosaunee Oneida Nation citizen and a member of the Turtle Clan. He grew up playing multiple sports under the tutelage of his grandfather, Chief Paul Waterman, on the Onondaga Nation. Gewas played the Creator’s game, this game has world-renowned origins within the Haudenosaunee culture known as Dehontsigwiseh - "bumping hips" is called lacrosse, currently played collegiately, internationally, and at pre-Olympic levels today. Gewas worked for the National Hockey League Phoenix Coyotes and the National Lacrosse League Arizona Sting in marketing, the professional Rochester Nighthawks Lacrosse organization as Governor and he served five years on the National Lacrosse League Board of Governors along with serving on their Marketing Committee, Player Relations Committee, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement Unit. In 2012 Gewas Schindler received the NCAIED (The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development) 40 Under 40 National Business Award, and the Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce Award in 2010. Gewas Schindler attended Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, concentrating in Communications and Marketing. As a student-athlete at Loyola, he earned lacrosse accolades earning 3X Division 1 All American Attackman awards. He was a 3X Iroquois Nationals World Team Captain who worked as a professional athlete in the National Lacrosse League and the Major Lacrosse League for eight years. Gewas Schindler competed in seven more World Lacrosse Championships and made eight Iroquois National World Team Rosters. In 2021, as General Manager, the Haudenosaunee U-15 Team won a Gold Medal in the IIJL World Championship, and the Haudenosaunee U-17 Team followed with a Gold Medal. Gewas’ role as an organization builder for youth lacrosse led him to serve as a Lacrosse Ambassador traveling to numerous countries such as Australia, Japan, Thailand, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, England, Mexico, Switzerland, Haudenosaunee, Indigenous Territories, Canada, and the United States to support, advise, and to leave a sport the indigenous people gave to the world community of lacrosse. Gewas’ family includes his wife Tia, and four children, Lawson, Madex, Kohen, and Kimaura. Home 2025 Banquet 2025 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More