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< Back Jordan Nolan Jordan Nolan Ojibwa Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Jordan Nolan is a three-time Stanley Cup Champion with the LA Kings (2012 and 2014) and St. Louis Blues (2019). Nolan is from the Garden River First Nation. He was drafted to the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and would go on to play for the Erie Otters (2005-2006), as well as the Windsor Spitfires (2006-2008) and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (2008-2010). A 20-goal scorer in Sault Ste. Marie with the Greyhounds, he was drafted by the LA Kings in the 7th round (186th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Nolan would be an integral part of the LA Kings Stanley Cup winning teams in 2012 and 2014. Just like his father and brother, giving back to First Nation youth is very important to Nolan. Having co-created the 3NOLANS First Nation Hockey School in 2013, he continuously sets aside time in his busy summer schedule to travel to First Nation communities across Canada to help teach hockey skills, but more importantly, how to be a positive role model and leader within your community. <Back

Harold Ladouceur Cree Induction Category: Year Inducted Trainer 2024 <Back Harold Ladouceur was raised in between northern Alberta and the Kikino Metis settlement and Saulteux and Moosomin Reserves in Saskatchewan. Horses had been his family's life since he could remember. Whether it be work horses logging or weekend rodeos. Understanding the needs of horses was ingrained in Ladouceur as a boy. Racing thoroughbreds would ultimately be the path that Ladouceur would find himself. His late Grandfather Alec Poitras trained countless thoroughbreds that would race on the B circuit. As a teenager Ladouceur would be exercising and grooming in the morning and race riding in the afternoon. Ladouceur honed his skills as an exercise rider before traveling to Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg where he would meet his future wife. The couple traveled to Florida where he would find his niche in breaking yearlings for prominent pin hookers that would take them across America working the training sales. They found themselves under the tutelage of renowned horseman Luke McKathan who would be instrumental in his career eventually holding two track records with horses McKathan would later send him. 25 years later Ladouceur still does business with the McKathan family. A fateful afternoon at the CTHS auction, where a slight framed bay filly caught his eye at the Hill N Dale consignment. He had to have her. Hip 98 would be named Paladin Bay by Ladouceur’s mother-in-law, meaning defender and champion. That she was. Winning numerous stakes one being the graded Selene. She was nominated for two and three year old champion filly. Paladin Bay would earn almost 700k before being sold to the prestigious Calumet farm. Some of Ladouceur's achievements are winning the Inaugural Turf Endurance Championship for longtime owner Kirk Sutherland with Tesseron, placing in the Grade 1 International with turf star Primo Touch, and winning the Kingarvie with homebred Jurojin. Barn favorites Wake up Maggie, Splendid Glory, and McCulley earned in the 150k range. Ladouceur has a loyal roster of top woodbine trainers that entrust him with their yearling purchases to be started and paved the way for a successful racing career. The ability to communicate with these young horses and allow them to learn how to safely and happily become racehorses undoubtedly comes from his heritage. To the plains Cree a horse is embraced as a brother. This reputation played a role in being hired to train for the iconic Stronach Stables. Ladouceur believes that horses are sacred animals that will speak to you, one only has to listen.

< Back Connor Church Connor Church Métis Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2025 Connor Church is a distinguished Métis athlete who proudly represents the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF). Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Connor moved to Montreal, Quebec at 18 years old to pursue his dream of representing Canada at the Olympics. Wrestling in the 79kg weight class, Connor has achieved remarkable success, becoming a four-time national champion, with two titles in the U20 division and two in the senior division. Church has competed in three World Championships and two Pan American Championships, where he earned a silver and bronze medal. In 2022, he represented Team Quebec at the Canada Games, emerging victorious in the 76kg weight class. Inspired by his father, who introduced him to the UFC, Connor became a huge fan of Georges St-Pierre. Watching a fellow Canadian dominate the world of MMA with his perfectly timed takedowns ignited the passion for wrestling. As a two-time Tom Longboat Award winner, Connor has been celebrated for his athletic accomplishments and dedication to his Indigenous heritage and community. His journey to success was highlighted by becoming a U Sports National Champion as a standout member of the Concordia wrestling team. Looking ahead, Connor is focused on his goal of representing Team Canada at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, driven by his love for the sport and desire to inspire fellow indigenous athletes. He is determined to leave a lasting legacy in wrestling and within his community. <Back

< Back Mekwan Tulpin Mekwan Tulpin Cree Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Builder 2024 Mekwan Tulpin continues to make HERstory today in both women’s field and box styles alongside an evolving sisterhood at provincial, national and international levels of play. She became the first Mushkegowuk Cree from Treaty 9 Territory to compete on the World Cup stage in lacrosse, while exploring her Belgian roots. As the daughter to Mary Jane Metatawabin and Leo Tulpin, she was born and raised mainly in Simcoe, Ontario. Living on Six Nations of the Grand River territory since 2010 has influenced her continued involvement within this high-impact sport for years to come. Tulpin’s current pursuit looks promising as the designated captain to the Haudenosaunee Nationals team with a roster compiled for evaluations at Utica’s 2023 LAXNAI tournament. Athletes making final selections will compete at an inaugural women’s division within World Lacrosse’s 2024 World Box Lacrosse Championships. With the Grand River Attack, she co-captained seven provincial championship titles over a 12+ year span. This includes being named to an All-Star team the past four consecutive years within Canada’s newly titled premier league, Women’s Major Series Lacrosse. As positive momentum across Turtle Island continues in favour of women’s lacrosse participation, campaigns like #Team88 and #WellnessWarrior, and the Women’s Global Box Lacrosse Network have recognized Mekwan as a lead ambassador for major games events. Throughout the years, the power of sport has instilled a desire to help motivate, raise competencies, and promote confidence-building skills amongst youth, as such were foundational to her own personal achievements, growth, and leadership qualities. Mekwan has been sought for coaching and facilitation opportunities through groups such as Turtle Concepts; Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Lacrosse Program; Anishnaabe Baggadowewin; Great Lakes Cultural Camps; Right to Play; Indigenous Sport & Wellness Ontario; Canadian Women in Sport; and more are on the horizon. <Back

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