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Dustin Quinn Martin Navajo Induction Category: Year Inducted Builder 2023 <Back Dustin Quinn Martin was born in Chinle, AZ. His mother is of German and Russian descent. His Father is Diné and Red Running into Water Clan born for the Towering House Clan. Dustin’s passion for running began at an early age, when he tagged along to track practice with his mother, Claudia, who was an assistant coach at Gallup High School. Native distance runners quickly became his idols. After attending high school in Albuquerque, Dustin ran four years of NCAA Division I cross country and track at Columbia University. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in anthropology in 2011. In the fall of 2011, he returned to New Mexico to serve as the Program Director of Wings of America, an organization founded in 1988 to create opportunities for talented Native American runners. During his early years with Wings, Dustin used his youthfulness and willingness to travel to reinvigorate the Wings network and expand the reach of the organization’s summer programs to provide mentorship and learning opportunities for Native youth from coast to coast. Apart from continuing to lend a hand to some of the most-talented runners across Indian Country, Dustin developed programs, such as “Flight Club” and “Pursuit” that do not require participants to race one another. Regular movement and connection to the Land are what are most important. Under his leadership, the Wings organization purchased a headquarters in Albuquerque, NM, that houses the Wings Elite Program, an opportunity for the best post-collegiate runners from across Indian Country to run at a professional level with the support of a Native coach and Native-lead organization. Photo Credits: Benjamin Weingart and Joy Godfrey

< Back Angelo Baca Angelo Baca Diné/Hopi Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 Angelo Baca is a cultural activist, scholar, filmmaker and currently a doctoral student in anthropology at New York University. He is the cultural resources coordinator at Utah Diné Bikéyah, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense and protection of culturally significant ancestral lands. The National Parks Conservation Association recently designated him as one of “10 Under 40” dynamic cultural activists who make up the association’s Next Generation Advisory Council. He has published a widely read op-ed in the New York Times. Shash Jaa’: Bears Ears is Angelo Baca’s latest award-winning film about the five tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition that worked together to protect 1.9 million acres of Utah wilderness through a national monument designation. His work reflects a long-standing dedication to both Western and Indigenous knowledge. Baca is also the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Champion in Cross Country and on the outdoor track in the 3000 meters steeplechase and 5000 meters in 2002-03. He also is a seven-time NJCAA All American in Cross Country, Track and the Half Marathon. Currently, he is training for trail races and long distances runs across Indigenous landscapes in Navajo country. <Back

Dano Thorne,’kwaliquinum’ <Back Coast Salish Cowichan and Nez Perce Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach 2022 A First Nations life-long advocate for sport, recreation, youth, and sport from grassroots to international level. A national level coach and coach instructor and founding member national aboriginal coaching modules the first master coach in this program, instructor in national coaching certification program, life skills coach mentor, suicide prevention mentor, physical literacy and multi-sport mentor, technical advisor to national and provincial sports groups and technical advisor and interim board member of world games movement. A lifetime professional commitment to create and develop sports and recreation for youth across North America. As an athlete, Indigenous Team Canada Indoor Soccer 1989-1998, Pro Soccer 1986-1988, Premier League Men’s Soccer 1979-1999, Duncan United Indigenous Men Provincial Champions and numerous MVP honors, and British Columbia (BC) Champions in 1990 and 1991. As a head coach, men’s teams won BC Champions 3 times in 1990, 1991, and 2001 and women in 1992. Men national runner-up 2001, women world champions 2015, 2017, Cuba U20 2019 and women North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) champions in 1993 and 1995. As an advocate and leader including being a board member, NAIG Council, Aboriginal Sport Circle, Team BC chef de mission, Special Olympics North America, National Indigenous Physical Activity Cultural Circle, founder NIFA Soccer Society, member of national sports committee appointed by sport minister and numerous other committees. Awards and honors include five-time BC Coaching Awards, three-time National Coach Awards, first ever Indigenous National Coach of the Year 1999. Graduate National Coaching Institute 1995 and presently completing the Canada Sport Institute Master Coaching Diploma. A two time athlete of the year as Cowichan Tribes Athlete in 1976 and 1979. With his 2015 team world champions he was inducted into the BC Soccer Hall of Fame in 2021. Dano has holistic approaches and remembers his cultural teachings of his family and elders. He is recognized for humility and integrity, respect of diversity and working for all people of indigenous ancestry and beyond. Believe who you are and live your dreams to all youth. Dano has been walking the red road for 33 years and enjoys his life daily. Has a strong spiritual belief with the Creator.

Jason G. Montoya <Back Santa Ana Pueblo Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach 2025 Growing up on the Pueblo of Santa Ana located in central New Mexico along the Rio Grande River, Jason Montoya learned the sport of golf at the age of eight years old. His passion grew as the years moved on and Montoya started taking lessons during his eighth grade year and never looked back. Golf opened many doors for Montoya taking him on his journey to the University of Nevada Las Vegas where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sports, Leisure and Recreation Management, and Professional Golf Management. In 2012 he earned his PGA Class A membership to the Professional Golfers Association of America. Montoya was the first Pueblo to receive his PGA Class A membership, and he focused on growing the sport of golf to youth. In 2019 Montoya received the PGA Award of Youth Player Development in the Sun Country Section and was recognized as one of Golf Digest Magazine’s Best Teachers in the State. During the 2019 and 2020 seasons Montoya coached varsity golf at Albuquerque Academy, with both boys and girls teams winning State Championships. Montoya left the program to focus on his golf school at Santa Ana Golf Club. His coaching led 15 student athletes to earn golf scholarships to universities. He also became the Captain of Team New Mexico, and the team placed in the top 10 in the Junior Americas Cup between 2020 and 2024. Montoya has coached free golf camps to community members of tribes who own courses including Talking Stick (Salt River Pima), WeKoPa (Yavapai), Turning Stone (Oneida), Whirlwind (Gila River) and Twin Warrior (Santa Ana Pueblo). He developed a partnership withthe Nike N7 Sports Experience and was a Nike N7 Ambassador who has been a part of the golf initiative since 2016. In 2023 Nike N7 Day of Inspiration was held at his home course (Twin Warriors) for the PGA Professional National Championship featured on the Golf Channel network highlighting Montoya’s golf journey.

< Back James Nells James Nells Navajo Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 James Nells, born in Winslow, Arizona is full blood Navajo Nation tribal member. His mother was Dorothea (Jackson) Shirley, father was Edward Nells. He is Salt clan, born for under his cover clan, grandparents are Black streak in the wood (mother) and Red bottom (father). James has three sisters living on the Navajo reservation including Brenda, Sandra and Dixie. They grew up around the Cedar Springs, Seba Dalkai, White Cone area of Arizona. They finally moved to Church Rock, New Mexico and James attended Church Rock Elementary, Bountiful Junior High and South Bountiful Jr. High in Bountiful, Utah. He attended and graduated from Wingate High School, Fort Wingate, New Mexico in 1977. James attended Haskell Indian Junior College (1978-80), Lawrence, Kansas, and graduated from Central State University (1980-83), Edmond, Oklahoma with a Bachelor degree in Teaching Physical Education and Health with a coaching option. He participated in Cross Country, Wrestling and Track. In college he ran both cross country and track. He is a state high school champion in the two-mile run (1976) and state runner-up in cross country, track mile and two mile run several times. He is also a High School All-American in Track. In college he was a two time All-American in Indoor Track and held the cross country course record while attending Haskell in 24:47 for 8K. James served in the US Army from 1984-92, was second in command in his unit while in Desert Storm with the 2-16 Infantry Rangers, Fort Riley, KS and received a Bronze Star. James and his wife Daisy Elana (Pratt) Nells have been married 38 years and they have two daughters and five sons and 13 grandkids. Photo: James and Elana Nells in 2022 <Back

< Back Jesse Frankson Jesse Frankson Inupiaq Eskimo Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Jesse Frankson started training for the Inuit Games in 1997. He competed in the Native Youth Olympics (NYO) State competition for the one foot high kick and tied the state record as a senior in high school. He then started coaching NYO high school athletes for three years. He was selected for Team Alaska in 2002 and 2004 for the Arctic Winter Games, which is held Bi-annually in various parts of the world, where he set records for the Alaskan High Kick and the One Foot high Kick. Jesse went on to compete at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics in 2005 and 2006 with several games, four of which he set records in. The One Foot High Kick, Alaskan High Kick, Kneel Jump and the One Arm Reach, all of which he held at one time, something that to his knowledge, has never been done before or since. He also competed and won in the Two Foot High Kick, Scissor Broad Jump and Stick Pull. Jesse was one of a few athletes featured in Jonathan Stanton’s documentary Games of the North, also Guinness World Records which was featured on Fox in 2001, where he set the world record for the Highest Martial Arts Kick at 9’8”, in a televised competition against Martial Artist Michael Blanks. Jesse was born in Kotzebue, Alaska and raised in Point Hope, Alaska. His wife Krystle Frankson and he have six children. His parents are Theodore Frankson Jr. and Kristi Frankson. <Back

Team 2024 Sagkeeng Old Timers Induction Category: Year Inducted <Back The Sakgeeng Oldtimers Hockey Club had its origins at the Sakgeeng First Nation, a community 100 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, with players ranging in age from 35 to over 50. The players were of Ojibway and Cree ancestry and came from native communities throughout Manitoba. The team was founded by Walter and Verna Fontaine. The first language of the team is Saulteaux, and the club wears the red and white colors of the Fort Alexander Indian Band. Sakgeeng is the Saulteaux word for “at the mouth of the river”, and the community of Sakgeeng (named Fort Alexander by fur traders) is at the mouth of the Winnipeg River where it empties into Lake Winnipeg. The team joined the Canadian Old Timers Hockey Association (COHA) in 1978 and played in international tournaments sponsored by COHA in Copenhagen, Denmark (1978); Toronto, Canada (1982); Munich, West Germany (1983); London, England (1984); Nice, France (1985); Paris, France (1986); Montreal, Canada (1987); and Montreal, Canada (1988). The teams won the 1983 World Cup in Munich, the 1987 World Cup in Montreal, and the 1988 COHA National Cup in Montreal. The Sakgeeng Old Timers were honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and artifacts for the teams are there on display. The roster of the teams included: Bob Boyer, Don Campbell, Paul Chartrand, Rene Desjarlais, Ted Fontaine, Dave Harper, John Hunter, George Kakeway, Gord Woo, Wayne Viznaugh, Phil Fontaine, Walter Fontaine, Norman Gunn, Bernie Wood, Ken Young, Jim Neilson, Mercel Flett, Joe Malcolm, Ron Guimond, Gerald Harry, Jim Prince, George Hickes and Rene Norma Ted Fontaine and Jim Neilson are also individually inducted in the athlete category in the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.

< Back Tahnee Robinson Tahnee Robinson Northern Cheyenne, Eastern Shoshone, Skidi Pawnee Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Tahnee Robinson is from Fort Washakie, Wyoming, and the Wind River Reservation. She belongs to the Eastern Shoshone, Northern Cheyenne and Skidi Pawnee people. Her parents are Timmy and Sara Robinson. She has two siblings, Tim Robinson Jr and Buell Robinson. She also has a son, Julius Jeffrey Robinson. Robinson played basketball and volleyball for four years and graduated from Lander Valley High School in 2006. Tahnee earned WHSAA All-Conference and All-State in volleyball for three years, and WHSAA All-Conference and All-State in basketball for four years. She also earned Gatorade Wyoming Player of the Year in basketball, Ms. Basketball Wyoming, Milward Simpson Award for the outstanding female athlete in Wyoming, Converse All-American in basketball and was selected for the Wyoming All-Star team. She played college basketball at Sheridan College in Sheridan, Wyoming (2007-2009). While at Sheridan, she was ranked first in scoring nationally by the NJCAA averaging 27 ppg, and was named NJCAA 1st Team All-American, and NJCAA Region IX Player of the Year. The Lady Generals played in their first ever appearance in school history in the NJCAA National Tournament as Region IX tournament champions in Salina, KS. Tahnee graduated from Sheridan College with an Associate of Science degree in General Studies. She received a full basketball scholarship to the University of Nevada (UNR) in 2009 where she played two full years and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in General Studies with an emphasis in Health Education, Communications and Native American Studies. While playing at the University of Nevada-Reno, Robinson won many accolades in her two years. Robinson was the 31st pick in the 2011 WNBA draft and played preseason games for the Connecticut Sun. She then played in Israel, Bulgaria, Poland, Ukraine and China. In her career overseas, Robinson won awards including the Eurobasket.com player of the week, the Chengdu China Tournament MVP and helped her team in Kirovograd, Ukraine win a championship. After her overseas career ended, Robinson went back to her alma mater UNR and joined the women’s basketball team as a graduate assistant. She graduated with her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. Off the court Robinson also made an impact being a Nike N7 Basketball Ambassador, National Spokesperson for Let’s Move in Indian Country, National Spokesperson for Big Brother & Big Sisters program, and was chosen as the Violence Against Women Act national spokeswoman for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. Robinson was inducted into the 2022 UNR Athletics Hall of Fame. Photos: The University of Nevada Photography and NDNSPORTS <Back

< Back Justina Di Stasio Justina Di Stasio Cree Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2025 Justina Di Stasio is a proud member of Norway House Cree Nation on her mother, Fiona Di Stasio and maiden name, Arthurson, side of her family. She is of Italian decent on her father, Tony Di Stasio, side of the family. Di Stasio has been a member of Team Canada women’s wrestling program since 2011, and has competed all over the world for her sport. Starting as a member of the Simon Fraser University Wrestling Team, Di Stasio was a four-time All American, and three-time WCWA National Champion. Di Stasio went on to make her first Senior World Team in 2015, and found international success that summer and placed second at the Pan American Games. She won a bronze medal at the Senior World Championships in 2017, and became a Senior World Champion in 2018. Di Stasio also won the 2019 Pan Am Games, then started to focus on making the Olympic team for Tokyo 2020. Di Stasio was the Olympic alternate for Team Canada in 2016 and 2020; after the second Olympic trials, she took a break from wrestling during the Covid pandemic to finish her teaching degree, then came back to the sport in 2021. Di Stasio won the Commonwealth Games in 2022, won the Canadian Olympic Trials in 2023, qualified for the Olympics in February of 2024, and competed for Canada at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, placing 12th. Di Stasio is now focusing on her teaching career as an Indigenous Resource Teacher in the Burnaby School District, and plans to return to wrestling to learn how to manage a full-time job and training leading into the 2025 season. <Back

Scott Daniels Mistawasis Nêhiyawak Induction Category: Year Inducted Builder 2024 <Back Scott Daniels is a former professional hockey player and a proud member of Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, where he grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada with his parents Noel and Thelma and five siblings. Before becoming a Major Junior A hockey player, where he played in the Western Hockey League with the Kamloops Blazers, the New Westminster Bruins and the Regina Pats, Daniels attended Athol Murray College of Notre Dame where he played ice hockey. After Junior Hockey, Daniels was drafted by the Hartford Whalers of the NHL. He played for the Springfield Indians/Falcons, Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils. Daniels won a Calder Cup Trophy during his time with the 1991 Springfield Indians and was a part of the 1995 Stanley Cup finalists with the Philadelphia Flyers. After retiring from hockey due to a career ending injury, Daniels went on to coaching a local youth team where he taught his daughter Sydney to play the game. He also coached Junior hockey and was a Scout for the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Currently, Daniels runs the Daniels Hockey School, where he works alongside his daughter, Sydney, to pass along his love for the game to indigenous youth and to teach valuable life lessons that can be learned within the sport. Daniels spends a lot of his time traveling across the United States and Canada giving talks to Indigenous youth on dealing with adversity, goal setting, and the opportunities that can be given to you through hard work. Currently, Daniels lives in Massachusetts, USA with his wife Lynn. They have three daughters, Cassie, Sydney and Cree, son-in-law Jose and two grandchildren Adrian and Mateo.

Henry Boucha Category Athlete Tribe Ojibwe Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 6/1/51 While growing up in Warroad, Minnesota, Henry Boucha played on the 1964 Bantam State Championship team, was all-conference in football, baseball, and hockey and was three-time All-State in hockey. Boucha graduated in 1969 from Warroad High School. The Warroad Warriors were runner-up at 1969 Minnesota Boys State Hockey Tournament. He signed with the Winnipeg Jets of the WCHL after high school. As an 18-year old, Boucha was chosen to represent the USA in the 1970 World Championships in Bucharest, Romania. In 1970, he was drafted in the US Army during the Vietnam War. He served two years in the Army while playing with the 1971 US World Championship Team and competing in the 1971 World Championships in Bern and Geneva Switzerland. In 1971 the Detroit Red Wings drafted him 16th overall. Still in the service he also played for the US Olympic Team in 1972 in Sapporo, Japan winning a silver medal. Boucha was the first draft choice of the Minnesota Fighting Saints in the new World Hockey Association just after the Olympics. He signed with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1971-72 season and played the last 16 games with Detroit. In 1973, he scored the fastest goal at the start of the game against the Montreal Canadians. Boucha was traded to the Minnesota North Stars in the summer of 1974. He suffered a major eye injury on January 4, 1975 when Dave Forbes of the Boston Bruins hit him with his stick resulting in a devastating and career ending eye injury. Boucha retired in 1977 as a 25-year-old. He returned to Warroad in the mid 80’s to raise his family. Henry coached youth hockey, was Indian Education Director at Warroad Public Schools, and was a realtor. He is the CEO of Boucha Films, LLC, and CEO of Boucha Films LTD, Canada. Boucha Films is currently in pre-production on the movie based on his book he authored called “Henry Boucha, Ojibwa-Native American Olympian”. Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

< Back Kyle Ḵaayák’w Worl Kyle Ḵaayák’w Worl Tlingit, Deg Hit’an Athabascan and Yup'ik Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 Kyle Ḵaayák’w Worl is an award-winning Arctic Sports athlete and coach currently residing in Juneau, Alaska. Worl is Tlingit of the Lukaax̱.ádi clan, Deg Hit’an Athabascan and Yup'ik. Over his 13 year career in the sport he has won over 100 medals, traveling through Alaska, Canada and Greenland to participate in various competitions. He is credited for spurring a renaissance in Arctic Sports in southeast Alaska as the first coach for Juneau in over 25 years to bring a team to the Native Youth Olympics in 2018. Along with training and coaching year-round in Alaska, Worl travels across the world to share Arctic Sports, including the Riddu Riddu Festival in Norway, Orenda Art International Gallery in Paris, and Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Currently, Worl works with the Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska as the Wellness Coordinator, overseeing a region-wide Traditional Games program. A few of his accolades include being featured in October 2019 Men’s Health Magazine; 2018 & 2019 NYO Games Alaska Healthy Coach Award; 2021, 2018, 2017 & 2016 World Eskimo Indian Olympics Outstanding Athlete Award. Arctic Sports are a collection of Indigenous games based on hunting and survival skills of the north. The games trained both physical and mental abilities that allowed the indigenous people of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka to thrive in the Arctic for millennia. Today athletes from across the Arctic and beyond carry on the tradition of the games in events such as Native Youth Olympics, World Eskimo-Indian Olympic, and Arctic Winter Games. Photos: Nobu Koch, Sealaska Heritage and Greg Lincoln, Delta Discovery. <Back