Search Results

< Back Bill Berry Bill Berry Apache Tribe of Oklahoma Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Bill Berry was named the 1980 Oklahoma High School Coaches Association American Legion Baseball Coach of the Year and 2003 Assistant All-State Baseball Coach, 2000 Oklahoma High School Softball Coaches Association All-State Fast Pitch Coach and 2012 All-State Slow Pitch Coach, 2014 Arizona Diamondbacks National Native American Softball Coach of the Year, and 2017 and 2018 Oklahoma Native American All-State Fast Pitch Coach. Berry was an assistant coach with the ASA 18U Gold Tulsa Eagles reaching the National Tournament five times placing ninth in 2003. He coached 23 All-State players and assisted in sending 27 players to NCAA Division I and 67 to various colleges on softball scholarships. He was inducted into the Oklahoma High School Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016 and selected as a 2017 Oklahoma AARP Indian Elder Honoree. Berry was the winning coach of the 2001 All-Indian Women’s National Softball Tournament in Oklahoma City, OK, 2013 Jim Thorpe Native American Games 18U Softball Championship in Oklahoma City, OK, and the 2016 Native American Basketball Tournament (NABI) 18U Softball National Tournament Championship in Phoenix, AZ. In 2020, he was named head softball coach of an 18U All-USA girls’ fast pitch team that was to play in Spain but cancelled due to COVID-19. He played 28 years of professional men’s fast pitch and was named the 1978 National Indian Athletic Association National Tournament MVP in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1979 in Albuquerque, NM, 1980 in Norman, OK, 1979 and 1983 ASA National Tournament MVP in Oklahoma City, OK, and Sioux City, IA, and played in the International Softball Congress (ISC) 1994 World Tournament at Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was a member of the 1991, 1992, and 1993 All-Indian Fast Pitch National Champions (North Americans) in Oklahoma City, OK. Berry was a three-time All-Conference pitcher at Cameron University and made the Oklahoma All-State baseball team and winning the Oklahoma American Legion State Baseball Championship in 1971. He served as assistant softball coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University and head softball coach at Bacone College and was an invited clinician for the University of Oklahoma, Baylor, and Louisiana Monroe softball camps. <Back

< Back Glenn Styres Glenn Styres Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 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

< Back Robert ‘Bob’ Gawboy Robert ‘Bob’ Gawboy Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Although the sport of swimming isn’t often associated with Native Americans, Robert ‘Bob’ Gawboy became an aquatic sensation, setting high school and collegiate records, eventually going on to break a world record in 1955. Bob Gawboy was born on the Vermilion Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota, on June 28, 1932. At the age of 14, his family moved to Ely where he attended Ely High School. Bob joined the swim team because it practiced at noon and he could then take the bus home after school, instead of walking 10 miles. In 1949, Ely High School won the state championship. Bob placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke. The following year, he broke a state record in the 200-yard free, and set national high school records in two IM events. He went on to Purdue, placing first in the 150-yard IM at the East-West collegiate competition. In 1952, at the NCAA Nationals he placed second in the 150-yard IM. Suffering from coordination problems, and a congenital arterial condition of his left leg, he was forced to stop swimming. After surgery on his leg, he started working out again in February, 1955, at the University of Minnesota, on a scholarship. Despite the two year hiatus and short time training, Bob shocked the sports world on April 1, 1955 at the AAU Indoor National Championship at Yale, where he swam the 220-yard breaststroke in 2:38.0, cracking the world-record. The pain in his leg was so severe during the race and the pent-up emotion over two years so great, that, upon winning, he erupted in whoops and hollers that was called war-whoops by the press with celebratory splashing around the pool. Bob Gawboy passed away on July 15, 1987 from multiple sclerosis, but not before he was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in Lawrence, Kansas, as the sole swimmer. Photo Credits: Purdue University and AP/Wide World Photos <Back

Marty Ward <Back Cherokee Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach 2024 Marty Ward has been a part of the Florida Southern men's lacrosse program for nearly its entire existence. The Moccasins have posted an overall record of 105-85, and have been ranked in the USILA Top 20 numerous times. During his time at Florida Southern, the program has produced 71 all-conference selections, 10 USILA All Americans, and 4 USILA Scholar All Americans. Ward was named as the DSC Co-Coach of the Year in 2011 after leading the Mocs to the conference title game. Ward's teams have also excelled in the classroom, with 35 players earning the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award for a total of 61 total selections, with 4 USILA Scholar All Americans Moccasins have also had more than 100 players named to the SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll. Ward was a standout goalkeeper and two time All American at Division II powerhouse Limestone College, where he helped lead the Saints to a record of 55-9 in his four years. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Ward has also had success as a goalkeeper for the Iroquois Nationals team, earning a bronze medal at the 2014 World Lacrosse Championships. He was also the starting goalkeeper for the Iroquois Nationals team that finished fourth in 2006. He made the roster in 2010 as the team qualified for the global event but did not participate. He has also served as a coach for the Iroquois Nationals U-19 squad at the international level, leading the team to a bronze medal at the 2012 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships. Ward is currently the only Native American head coach in NCAA men's lacrosse, at any level. In 2018, Ward became the first lacrosse player inducted into the Corcoran (N.Y.) High School Athletics Hall of Fame. Outside of the sport, Ward worked with the NativeVision program from 2013-16, a part of the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Heath. Sponsored by the National Football League (NFL), the program, one of the nation’s largest nutrition, obesity and diabetes prevention programs for American Indian children. Ward lives in Lakeland, Florida with his wife Aricka, daughter Sawyer, and son Ryker.

< Back Jayme Menzies Jayme Menzies Métis Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Coach 2023 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

< Back Ron Powless Ron Powless Oneida Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2025 Ron Powless was born on March 17, 1931, in Milwaukee Wisconsin and passed away September 9, 2011, in Marietta, GA while enroute to his winter home in Ft. Myers, FL. His father was Merville Powless from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. His mother, Jesse Snow Powless, was from the Red Lake Chippewa Nation. Ron, the oldest of three brothers, was highly motivated and an athletically talented youth. He played high school football at Morgan Park, Chicago, IL and Washington High School, Milwaukee, WI. His success as a receiver and punter led to his recruitment and scholarship offers. Ron attended Indiana University on an athletic scholarship playing football for the Hoosiers in the Big Ten. Following his time at Indiana, Ron served in the military stationed in Tokyo, Japan, where he was selected to the U.S. Army All-Star football team and played in the first American football game in Tokyo Stadium against the Marine All-Star’s. After his time in the military and playing for the U.S. Army All-Star football team, he continued his education in Mexico City at Mexico City College and later graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Marketing and Economics. Ron’s competitive nature led to successful careers with companies like Xerox and Itek before founding his own corporation, International Data Systems. His success allowed him to contribute to American Indian causes and enjoy homes in Wisconsin and Florida. Ron’s legacy lives on as he had a son and daughter both of whom followed him with successful careers and healthy families. <Back

< Back Lindy Waters III Lindy Waters III Kiowa/Cherokee Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Lindy Waters III is a Native American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He was born in Boulder, Colorado to Lisa and Lindy Waters, Jr. At age four, Lindy, his parents and his three sisters, Leana, Loren and Lindsey, moved to Norman, Oklahoma where he attended school and played several sports, including basketball, baseball, and football. After graduating from high school, Lindy was offered multiple college basketball scholarships. He attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma where he started in over 100 games and finished his college basketball career with over 1,000 points, 250 assists and 100 steals. Lindy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Management. He is a citizen of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and the Cherokee Nation. In 2018, Lindy was named “Indian of the Year” by the American Indian Exposition, one of the nation’s oldest and largest intertribal celebrations. In 2022, he founded the Lindy Waters III Foundation whose mission is to enhance and support Native American youth and Indigenous communities through sports, health and wellness, and leadership programs. The foundation is committed to providing a platform for individual improvement, opportunity, exposure and access for all Native youth. Action shot photo credit: Getty Images Profile photo credit: Loren Waters, Waters Media <Back

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 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

John Alexander Hunter Muscogee Creek Induction Category: Year Inducted Builder 2024 <Back John Alexander Hunter is a Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska descendant and White Earth Nation descendant living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He is a Muscogee Creek Nation citizen through his paternal grandmother’s (Alexander) family. Encouraged and supported by parents and family, Hunter took great interests in most sports in his home community of St. Paul, Minnesota. He earned the Dave Winfield Scholarship Award for athletic, scholarly, and service achievement in high school. With little more than the encouragement of a literature teacher, John started the first ever organized lacrosse team for his high school in 1994, which went on the state championship its first two years of play. Many of the players had been looked over for the school's most popular sports of baseball and hockey. Lacrosse quickly became popular as many of these student athletes were without an outlet for competitive team athletics. This was an exciting time to organize lacrosse, since there were only 8 teams in the inaugural statewide league, and interest was growing rapidly. Hunter took his lacrosse skills to Stanford University, he played four years of lacrosse and earned team captain honors his senior year. Focusing on starting a family and career, John took a break from lacrosse organizing until 2014 when he co-founded the non-profit sports organization, Twin Cities Native Lacrosse. He was inspired by other local indigenous lacrosse groups such as the Lightning Sticks Society. Since its beginning, Twin Cities Native Lacrosse has helped inspire the rapid growth of the traditional lacrosse games throughout the western Great Lakes communities. The traditional lacrosse game had not been played on a large scale in the region for over 100 years. Facilitating games, hosting skills clinics, and promoting traditional stick-making arts was the core work of the group. Hunter used the network of schools and indigenous youth groups in the Twin Cities to place the Anishinaabe and Dakota ball games directly in front of hundreds of Indigenous youth. Many now teach the game themselves. In 2018, the success of the community work was honored with a Super Bowl Legacy Grant. In 2020, Hunter was selected as the Head Coach for the Minneapolis Boys’ High School Lacrosse team, and became one of the first indigenous lacrosse head coaches in the state’s history. Also in 2020, John became the founding board member for the international non-profit organization, Anishinaabe Baagaadowewin, with a mission to share Anishinaabe history and culture -- specifically about traditional ball games. Hunter helped Anishinabe Baagaadowewin complete the initial work towards the the formation of an Anishinaabe National team. In 2022, Hunter was the primary consultant to BBC Radio’s podcast about ‘Great Lakes’ traditional lacrosse, which was broadcast to millions of listeners worldwide.

< Back Phillip Raweriio Barreiro Phillip Raweriio Barreiro Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Thomas and Phillip Barreiro are multi-time Canadian Greco-Roman Wrestling National champions. They strive to be good role models for young people on the Akwesasne Reservation. As experienced coaches, they have logged many years and countless hours working with the younger generation in their community. They are both passionate about the sport and have a lot of love for the culture that raised them to be who they are today. They emphasize the importance for young people to develop mindful values and personal discipline. This is critical in order to help Akwesasne youth achieve a healthy lifestyle, not just for themselves but for the community as well. Phillip Barreiro has a passion for the sport of wrestling and mentoring young people, He began wrestling in eighth grade at the age of 14. While in high school, Barreiro was a New York State place winner and two-time 2006 and 2008 North American Indigenous Games Champion. Barreiro attended NCAA Division 1 American University from 2009-2013. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from American University in 2013 and went to work as a Court Administrator for Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe for eight years. During that time, he became a three-time Canadian National Champion in Greco-Roman Wrestling. Barreiro also spent a year as an assistant coach for NCAA D1 Binghamton University and he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt. He recently started, alongside his brother Thomas, a non-profit youth development program titled GOOD MIND GRAPPLING. The program uses the sport of wrestling, and related grappling disciplines, to promote physical literacy and combat intergeneration trauma in indigenous youth. <Back

< Back Scott Murray Scott Murray Oneida Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Coach 2025 Scott Murray was born on November 25, 1955, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, living there until the age of 10 before his family moved to Grafton. During his time at Grafton High School, he was a two-time All Conference stand out athlete who lettered in five sports: basketball, baseball, golf, cross country, and track. Scott attended Milton College where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Management. He was a three-year starter in basketball, scored 1,000 points in his college career and was selected as an All-WICA and All-District collegiate athlete. During his college basketball career, he was invited to play in Costa Rica and later played professional basketball in San Jose, Costa Rica. During his off time in Costa Rica, he was an English teacher. Scott was later inducted into the Milton College Hall of Fame. Scott’s college coach, Dale Race, who coached hundreds of student athletes in his long career, made it clear that number 11 was one of his finest student athletes ever, both on and off the court. He said in his 40 years of coaching, Scott was one of the best, Scott Murray was a champion. For many years, and up to the time of his death on December 18, 2015, Scott was the Area Manager of Fitness and Recreation for the Oneida Nation where he is an enrolled member. In addition to his important role in fitness and recreation, Scott was the well-loved and longtime Head Boys Basketball Coach at the Oneida Nation High School. He also coached the Wisconsin Boys Basketball team at the Native American Indigenous Games where they won the Gold Medal twice. While Scott was an exceptional athlete in high school, college, and at the recreational level, it was not without having to overcome an amazing challenge in life. Early in his high school years, Scott lost three fingers in a shop class. In spite of that traumatic experience his athlete resume’ was amazing. In his post high school and professional basketball years, he continued to be an outstanding recreational athlete regularly competing in basketball, softball, and golf. While competing locally and nationally, Scott was a part of many local and national championships which included three National Championship titles at the National Indian Athletic Association (NIAA) 40 and over tournament. He was selected as the Co-MVP at the 40 and over national NIAA Championship in 1999. Scott Murray passed away on the worksite doing what he loved to do. As the Area Manager of Recreation, Scott took the Nation to another level while constantly working towards making our Nation a better place. Whether it was empowering our youth to become great student athletes or building our future in recreation and sports, Scott cared about the Oneida Nation community. The Oneida Nation Fitness Center gym is now named the Scott Murray Gym in honor of his commitment. <Back

< Back Sam Horsechief Sam Horsechief Pawnee and Cherokee Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Sam Horsechief is the head coach of cross-country and track at Sequoyah High School, a Native American boarding school, located in Tahlequah, OK. He started in February 1987 and has been there ever since. In his 35-year coaching career, he has coached: Eight State Team Championships (Cross Country: 6 boys, 2 girls) 12 State Team Runner Ups (Cross Country 11, Track 1) 95 All-State Athletes (Track 39, Cross Country 56) 31 Regional Championships (20 Boys and 12 Girls) 32 Cross Country Honorable Mention All-State Athletes Horsechief was recognized as the 2006 Oklahoma NFHS Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year, Oklahoma Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year in 2001, 2003, 2019 for Cross Country and again for Track in 2003. In 2019, he was inducted in the Oklahoma Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame. After graduating as a top running athlete from Muskogee High School, Sam Horsechief decided to continue his running career at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas then onto Central State University in Edmond, OK. He ran both track and cross-country. During his time as a collegiate athlete, he set the Haskell school record in the 800m run in 1979 with a time of 1:55.8. He also set more school records at CSU in the 1 mile run with a time of 4:19.3 in 1980 and the 800-meter with a time of 1:52.8 in 1981. In addition, he was a seven-time qualifier for the Nationals meets. In track, he qualified six times and once for the Cross Country National meet in 1980. In track, his events included the 800 meter, 1000m run, two-mile relay, distance medley relay, mile relay, and 1500 meter. He won various medals during his career. Most notable, he was a medalist in the NAIA National Indoor meet for the distance medley for placing sixth. He also earned All-American for that event, where he ran the 800m leg of that race. <Back