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  • 2024 Banquet Sponsorship | NAIAHF

    North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame (NAIAHF) Banquet Weekend Friday-Saturday, March 15-16, 2024 *Green Bay and Oneida, WI, USA Radisson Inn Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA Radisson Hotel and Conference Center The North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame will recognize the 2024 inductee class as well as 2022 and 2023 inductees in an exclusive ceremony and lunch on Saturday, March 16, 2024. There were 54 inductees and 310 guests at the first banquet on September 9, 2023 at the Canterbury Park Expo Center, Shakopee, MN, USA. By honoring and celebrating the empowered journey of these individuals and teams, the hope is their stories may inspire future generations to follow their dreams in athletics. Please join us in our efforts to honor and recognize the elite indigenous athletics leaders in North America by becoming a hall of fame, table or drawing sponsor for the 2024, 2023 and 2022 North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet Weekend. All proceeds will offset the event expenses including providing gifts to the inductees. This is the NAIAHF website: https://www.naiahf.org/ Dr. Dan and Susan Ninham, Directors, NAIAHF, PO Box 652, Red Lake, MN, USA, 56671, coach.danninham@gmail.com Gold Sponsor $5,000 Three reserved VIP banquet tables for 10 per table and 30 total Logo on the Welcome signage Logo on both sides of the Autograph Card Logo and website link on the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame webpage Video screen logo at the banquet One sponsor spokesperson will be speaking for five minutes at the afternoon banquet session Announcement of Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors at the banquet Silver Sponsor $3,000 Two reserved VIP banquet tables for 10 per table and 20 total Logo on the Welcome signage Logo on both sides of the Autograph Card Logo and website link on the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame webpage Video screen logo at the banquet One sponsor spokesperson will be speaking for five minutes at the afternoon banquet session Announcement of Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors at the Banquet Bronze Sponsor $1,000 One reserved VIP banquet table for 10 total Logo on the Welcome signage Logo on both sides of the Autograph Card Logo and website link on the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame webpage Video screen logo at the banquet One sponsor spokesperson will be speaking for five minutes at the afternoon banquet session Announcement of Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors at the Banquet Hall Of Fame Table Sponsor $400 per 10 seat table Logo or words on the bottom of both sides of the Autograph Card Sponsor may designate who will be seated or allow Dr. Dan and Susan to seat people Announcement as a Table Sponsor at the Banquet Hall of Fame Banquet Drawing Prize Sponsor $500+ retail value of drawing prizes Logo or words on the bottom of both sides of the Autograph Card Announcement as a Drawing Sponsor at the Banquet If retail value of drawing prizes are at the Gold, Silver or Bronze levels above, the same Medal perks are included 2023 Sponsors Sponsorship Details The deadline to receive sponsorship payment and copy ready logos is noon central time on March 8, 2024. The earliest the payment the earlier your logo will be on the NAIAHF website page. Payment can be made in a check or money order or PayPal to code: coach.danninham@midco.net and sent to Empowered Youth Development Initiatives, PO Box 652, Red Lake, MN, USA, 56671. Contact Dr. Dan Ninham at 218.368.6430 or coach.danninham@gmail.com to receive additional details about the 2024 NAIAHF Banquet sponsorship opportunities and to receive 2023 banquet sponsored signage.

  • Glenn Styres

    < Back Glenn Styres ​ ​ ​ Glenn Styres Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete 2023 April 26, 1964 ​ Glenn Styres started building Ohsweken Speedway in his front yard, a track that has become a top dirt racing destination in Canada. Whether he was building his own Field of Dreams, sponsoring teams from around the world, or as a driver himself, Styres has been a racing industry leader for 30 years. Styres success has been validated internationally by being voted the North American Sprint Car Promoter of the Year eight times. Behind the wheel he was a multi-time champion at his home track, the Ohsweken Speedway and on tour winning the Southern Ontario Sprints Tour Championship multiple times. In recent years Styres has supported international stars like Kyle Larson’s dirt sprint car program as well as being a major sponsor and team owner in the Chili Bowl Nationals and World of Outlaws, including competing himself. Styres is also a role model in the Indigenous community and has a TV series airing on APTN, called Friday Night Thunder, and it takes viewers inside the Ohsweken Speedway. <Back

  • Ross Powless

    < Back Ross Powless ​ ​ ​ Ross Powless Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. D.O.D. Athlete/Coach 2023 September 29, 1926 May 26, 2003 Considered one of the fathers of modern lacrosse in Canada, Ross Powless was born in Ohsweken Ontario, on the Six Nations of the Grand River in 1926. Belonging to the Turtle clan (Kanien'kehá:ka) of the Haudenosaunee, or Six Nations Confederacy, Ross spent five years as a child at the Mohawk Institute Indigenous Residential School in Brantford, Ontario. Lacrosse, the Creator’s game, which holds deep spiritual and cultural significance for the Haudenosaunee people, offered Ross a powerful way to reclaim his heritage after enduring extreme deprivation and isolation from family and culture at residential school. Ross could not help but raise the profile of lacrosse wherever he played the game. Between 1951 and 1953, he won three consecutive Canadian Senior A championship titles with the Peterborough Timbermen. In 1951 and 1952, he claimed the Tom Longboat Award twice as the most outstanding First Nations athlete in Ontario. In 1953, he was awarded the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player in Canadian Senior A lacrosse. As player-coach of Hamilton Lincoln Burners Senior “A” team between 1956 and 1958, Ross won every Ontario Lacrosse Association trophy he was eligible to claim, including Top Scorer, Most Valuable Player, Best Defensive Player and Coach of the Year. Among his many coaching highlights, Ross led the Canadian Senior Men’s Lacrosse Team to defeat the United States at Expo ‘67 in Montreal. Despite encountering racism, Ross continually broke down barriers for Indigenous peoples. His son, Gaylord Powless, who was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, stands out as one of the great lacrosse players taught and inspired by Ross. In 2020, Ross was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame for Lacrosse in the Builder category. In 2003, Ross Powless passed away, a respected elder in his community. <Back

  • Oliver “Cap” Bomberry Sr

    < Back Oliver “Cap” Bomberry Sr ​ ​ ​ Oliver “Cap” Bomberry Sr Cayuga Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete/Builder 2023 January 9, 1940 ​ Cap Bomberry played for the Oshweken Warriors from 1959 to 1973 and won the President's Cup in 1964, 1967 and 1968. He was involved in minor organization from 1975 to 1988 and was a Team/General Manager with the Jr. A Arrows from 1990 to 1992 winning the Minto Cup in 1992. This was the first indigenous team to win the Minto Cup. He was also the GM for the Six Nations Chiefs from 1993 to 1997 winning the Mann Cup in 1994, 1995, and 1996. Cap was President and GM of the Six Nations Rivermen from 2013 to 2019 winning the President's Cup in 2015 and 2019. Bomberry has been a builder of the sport of lacrosse in the Six Nations minor organization, coach of Pee Wee and Bantam national championships, and Midget provincial championship. He traveled to Australia when Six Nations athletes competed for Team Canada in the World Field Lacrosse Championships and with the Iroquois Nationals when Ontario hosted the World Indoor Championships. Bomberry has been inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 in the Builder Category. He was also inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2001 as a Builder, became an Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) Life Member in 2006 and was presented with the OLA President's Award. <Back

  • Autumn Apok Ridley

    < Back Autumn Apok Ridley ​ ​ ​ Autumn Apok Ridley Inupiaq and Tlingit Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete 2023 September 27, 1995 ​ Autumn Apok Ridley is from Anchorage, Alaska. She is a descendant from Wales, Alaska. She currently holds three world records in the Traditional Indigenous Northern Games. Her records are the Alaskan High Kick at 83”, the Two-foot High Kick at 79”, and the Traditional One-foot High Kick (Alaskan style) at 74”. She also shares the Traditional One-foot High Kick record with two other women, Erica Carson and Carol Hull. Autumn first started participating in the traditional games at the age of 6. She was influenced by her Uncle Gregory Nothstine since he was heavily involved in the games. She broke her first world record in The Alaskan High Kick in 2012 at the Native Youth Olympics at 82”. Two years later she went on and broke her record by one inch in the Alaskan High Kick at the same competition. The next day she went and broke a 25 year old record formerly held by Nicole Johnston in the Two-foot High Kick by one inch. In July of 2014 she tied the world record in The Traditional One-foot High Kick with Erica Carson (Meckel) at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. Autumn still practices and participates in the games for fun and coaches when she has time. Photo Credit: Wayde Carroll Photography <Back

  • Michael Linklater

    < Back Michael Linklater ​ ​ ​ Michael Linklater Cree from Thunderchild First Nation Treaty 6 Territory Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete 2023 September 25, 1982 ​ Michael Linklater has established himself as one of the world’s top 3X3 basketball players. As team captain he represented Saskatoon in FIBA’s 3X3 World Tour as well as the Canadian National team at the World Cup. Linklater picked up a basketball at an early age on an inner city court and in 2010, he made history as team captain when he lead the University of Saskatchewan Huskie men’s basketball team to its first and only Canada-West Conference Championship and CIS National Championship. Michael played for the Saskatchewan Rattlers in 2019 in the Canadian Elite Basketball League and won the league championship during the inaugural season. Michael was inducted into the Saskatoon sports hall of fame in 2022. Michael has utilized his wealth of athletic accomplishments to help create awareness about issues, off the court. He is a proud Nehiyāw (Cree) descending from the Thunderchild First Nation, located in Treaty 6 Territory. Linklater is the founder of the International Campaigm, “Boys with Braids.“ He has won numerous awards as an advocate for Indigenous youth and for his community involvement. Over the past two and half decades, Michael has delivered hundreds of keynote addresses to tens of thousands of youth and adults across the world. He is also a certified Yoga instructor and incorporates his traditional spirituality into each practice. Most importantly, Michael is a proud father who understands the significance of his cultural traditions and role modelling a healthy lifestyle to his children. <Back

  • Dani Day

    < Back Dani Day ​ ​ ​ Dani Day Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete 2023 ​ ​ Dani Day is an enrolled citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota and a 1991 graduate of Bemidji High School. She earned two varsity letters each in volleyball and basketball. She earned five varsity letters for the Lumberjacks Track team, including one as an eighth grader, throwing the shot put and discus. She was elected team captain by her peers for volleyball and track. Dani held the Bemidji High School shot put record for more than 20 years with a throw of 29' 1-1/2". The summer after graduating high school, Dani had the opportunity to compete in track meets in Germany and Austria as part of the World's Sports Exchange. The meets had teams from all over Europe as part of the European Junior National Meet. Although Team USA did not score with the European teams, Dani placed second in the shot put and third in the discus alongside Europe's best Junior’s. In 1991, Dani received a full scholarship to Jamestown (ND) College to compete on the Jimmie volleyball team. In 1992, Dani transferred to North Dakota State University for academic reasons and walked on to the Bison track team where she was selected as team captain in 1995 and 1996. Dani held the NDSU school record in the Hammer Throw in 1996. In 1993, Dani competed for Team Minnesota at the North American Indigenous Games in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. She placed first in the shot put and second in the discus events. Her medals were presented to her by Indigenous track great Billy Mills. Dani also had the honor to carry the United States Flag into the stadium during the Opening Ceremony. <Back

  • Jayme Menzies

    < Back Jayme Menzies ​ ​ ​ Jayme Menzies Métis Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete/Coach 2023 November 7, 1986 ​ A proud Métis living on her Nation’s home territory, Jayme is a mother, lawyer, athlete, coach, and community advocate, who relentlessly uses sport as a vehicle for social change. During her five years of studying sciences at the University of Winnipeg, Jayme played multiple positions on her university volleyball team, three years of which she served as team captain. She proceeded to pursue law and has been working with and for Indigenous communities in a variety of capacities ever since, one of which was with the National Inquiry in to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people. Jayme has been coaching for 19 years. She has represented Manitoba multiple times as an athlete and a coach, most recently in 2017 at the North American Indigenous Games in Toronto, and the Canada Games in Winnipeg where her team won Gold. For a fourth consecutive cycle, she has been once again named the head coach of the Manitoba volleyball team that will attend the 2023 North American Indigenous Games. Off the court, Jayme is a certified facilitator for the National Aboriginal Coaching Module - a course that, among other things, offers tactics to apply traditional teachings and address racism in sport contexts. Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, she trained more than 50 coaches in this course in 2021. Jayme has also served as President on both the Volleyball Manitoba and Manitoba Aboriginal Sport and Recreation boards, through which she was able to affect change at a policy level. It is extremely important to Jayme to employ a holistic approach to coaching and to help make sport accessible to Indigenous youth. In 2017, Jayme co-founded Agoojin Volleyball, which is a year-round program that sets a precedent in inclusivity, youth empowerment, celebrating Indigenous talent, and utilizing sport platforms for advocacy. Agoojin has spots designated for rural, northern, and remote Indigenous athletes, incorporates cultural teachings, mentors Indigenous female and two-spirit coaches, and prioritizes a trauma-informed, individualized approach for each member of the Agoojin family. Jayme is also the head coach of a college volleyball team, the CMU Blazers. Prior to the pandemic, Jayme’s team won the league championship and in 2022 placed 2nd. Jayme’s relentless dedication to safe, equitable, inclusive, and holistic sport has immensely impacted the volleyball and Indigenous communities in her home province and beyond. Jayme continues to raise the bar in coaching. It comes as no surprise that she has been awarded a number of coaching awards, most notably: Manitoba’s Female Indigenous Coach of the Decade. Photos: University of Winnipeg Wesmen, setter; Photo Credit: Kelly Morton Photography Head Coach, Blazers college female volleyball program; Photo Credit: Canadian Mennonite University <Back

  • Steve McDonald

    < Back Steve McDonald ​ ​ ​ Steve McDonald Prairie Band Potawatomi Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete 2023 March 29, 1958 ​ Steve McDonald is a Life Member of the Professional Golf Association (PGA). He was a two-year, four-sport letterman at Haskell Indian Junior College in football, basketball, baseball and golf. McDonald played golf at Washburn University, where he won five college tournaments. As a golf professional he has won over 35 sanctioned PGA Midwest and South Florida Section tournaments, including the 1988 Midwest Section Match Play Championship. He was named seven times to the Midwest Section PGA Cup Team. He was also named four times as a member of the Midwest Section PGA District VII Cup Team and a two-time member of the South Florida Section Chapter Cup Team. McDonald won eight times on the First Nations Golf Associations Professional Golf Tour. He was twice named the First Nations Golf Association Player of the Year. He is a founding Board Member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (PBPN) Boys and Girls Club and The First Tee of Shawnee County. He was a Board of Trustee Member to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006 he served as Chef de’Mission for Team Kansas at the North American Indigenous Games held in Denver, CO and was also the Commissioner of Golf. He has visited over 25 Native American Reservations teaching youth golf. He was the Head Golf Professional at Addison Reserve, Delray Beach, FL, the General Manager of The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes, Lake Mary, FL, the Director of Golf Instruction at Lake Shawnee Golf Course, Topeka, KS, and the Vice President of Golf at Jacks Bay, a Tiger Woods designed golf course. McDonald is a two-time cancer survivor and the 2022 South Florida Section PGA of America Deacon Palmer Award winner. He is semi-retired but still playing and teaching, and to date he has given over 20,000 lifetime golf lessons. <Back

  • Lauren Schad

    < Back Lauren Schad ​ ​ ​ Lauren Schad Cheyenne River Lakota Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete 2023 January 6, 1995 ​ Lauren Schad is a citizen of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation and raised in He Sapa (The Black Hills) located in Rapid City, South Dakota. She was recruited by the University of San Diego (USD) and in her sophomore and junior seasons, she earned a spot on the USA Collegiate National Volleyball Team roster. She also received All-American Honors. Schad ranked second best in single season hitting percentage in USD history, nationally third ranked in hitting percentage at .410 in the NCAA out of all seniors, was #1 in the WCC in hitting percentage and tenth all-time in career blocks at USD. Following graduation with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a minor in English, she was invited to be a Nike N7 Ambassador and played professionally for five seasons in the top league in France, where she and her team won silver in both the Coupe de France and the Championship of France and receiving bronze her following two seasons. She competed in the Champions League for three seasons out of five in France competing against world renowned athletes. During Lauren’s off seasons, she has remained active in her home and tribal communities organizing and hosting camps for Indigenous youth throughout the US and Canada. In 2019, the Red Ribbon Skirt Society asked her to be their first Healing the Globe Ambassador for MMIWG2S. Following her retirement from volleyball in the summer of 2022 she began her textile business, Wicahpi Rugs & Textiles, where she uses Lakota star knowledge and stories to inspire modern art. Lauren hopes through these efforts she will help to increase the visibility and opportunities for youth living in rural areas while shedding light to issues facing Indigenous communities. Action Photo Credit: Alexandrine Maguer Spilers Profile Photo Credit: Taylor Schad <Back

  • Kevin Sandy

    < Back Kevin Sandy ​ ​ ​ Kevin Sandy Cayuga Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. ​ Athlete/Coach/Builder 2023 September 16, 1964 ​ Kevin Vincent Sandy belongs to the Lower Cayuga Nation, Wolf Clan, Haudenosaunee and resides on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. His two amazing children are Aamisk and Menaywaywyn who belong to the beautiful Mushkegowuk and Haudenosaunee way of life of their parents. Sandy was the first General Manager of the Six Nations Arrows Lacrosse team who went on to become the first Indigenous team in the world to win the Minto Cup Canadian Jr. A Lacrosse Championship in 1992. He enjoyed visiting families, bringing the players together, to come home and believe in a dream to compete at the highest level possible in their sport of choice. He’s been the General Manager of the Six Nations Rebels who won Canadian and Ontario Lacrosse Championships in the late 1990’s. Sandy has helped build, plan and organize the Haudenosaunee National teams who won silver at the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships (Halifax, NS) and 2008, U-19 World Field Lacrosse Team (Coquitlam, BC). Sandy has functioned as a builder/organizer in hosting, staging and delivering the 2017 North American Indigenous Games, Box Lacrosse Competition at Six Nations of the Grand River, which seen girls competing for the first time at these games. Record crowds and players participated in the games, which was held at three separate venues over a one-week period in Grand River Territory. He also helped host and stage the World Indoor U19 Lacrosse Challenge at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory (2015) prior to the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships (Onondaga Nation). <Back

  • Bennae Calac

    Bennae Calac Pauma Band of Luiseño Indian Induction Category: Year Inducted D.O.B. Builder 2022 Nov 16, 1969 <Back Bennae is a strong Native woman, mother, business owner, mentor, teacher, and leader. Over the last 35 years, Bennae Calac has represented Pauma in various political, cultural, and administrative capacities. She has served as the repatriation chair since the age of twenty-one and her life’s work is to preserve the culture and traditions of her people. She is dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of Luiseño songs and dances and works with her own children and local youth programs to ensure that this traditional knowledge is instilled in the younger generation. Bennae was elected as Committee Member to the Pauma Band’s Tribal Council in December 2008 and served another two-year term as Secretary and Treasurer. Through her various Tribal roles, Bennae interacts with the youth, culture, public and political relations. Bennae continually answers the community’s call to speak on topics ranging from native wellness, health advocacy, domestic violence, women’s issues, and cultural preservation. Bennae serves on numerous boards and committees, including as the Co-Founder of the 7G Foundation, a (501)(c)(3) organization providing Native Americans, and other Indigenous people and communities, assistance in reaching their goals through Athletics, Education, Health-Mind-Body Practices, and Community. She has also established and serves as Board Chair for Onoo Po Strategies, a multifaceted consultancy and holding company with capabilities in Economic Development, Technology, Procurement and Distribution, Business Strategy and Marketing, and Environmental and Agricultural Management. Photo: Mom (left) and daughter at the US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis.

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