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7G Foundation Category Tribe Builder Year Inducted 2022 Established 2019 The 7G Foundation was founded by Bennae Calac, an enrolled member of Pauma Band of Luseno Indian of Pauma Valley, California. Bennae started 7G to inspire leadership in youth through education, athletics, culture and real-world support for the next seven generations. The Indigenous Bowl is 7G’s signature event that is held annually. In 2020 the Indigenous Bowl was paused due to the global pandemic. However, in December 2021 the 4th Indigenous Bowl was played at the US Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. In 2021, the Indigenous Bowl had 54 Native American high school football players representing 30 tribes from California to British Columbia. For many of the players it was the first time they had travelled outside their state. Stepping into a professional sports stadium not as a spectator but as a skilled player was life changing for these young athletes and as some expressed “a dream come true.” The 7G Foundation is committed to giving young Native American athletes visibility and providing pathways to reach their highest potential in high school, college and beyond. The unique aspect of the 7G foundation is celebrating and honoring the Native American heritage and culture of each of the athletes. Creating safe places that inspire the athletes to thrive has been the bedrock of 7G Foundation. Photo: Mom (left) and daughter at the US Bank Stadium. 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

Ryan Salmon Ojibwe Induction Category: Year Inducted Builder 2024 <Back Ryan Salmon's journey in the world of volleyball began on the beaches of Southern California, where he first discovered his deep passion for the sport. Starting from those humble beginnings, he embarked on an impressive collegiate career, representing UNLV and Kendall College. It was during his time at Kendall College that his commitment to both academics and athletics flourished, earning him recognition as an All-American athlete, and playing a pivotal role in his college team's successes on the volleyball court. Following his graduation, Salmon's devotion to volleyball led him to explore the world as he pursued a professional career in the sport. The California beach culture, which initially ignited his passion, remained the driving force behind his remarkable journey and continued to inspire his dedication to the game. Beyond his achievements in volleyball, Salmon, alongside his wife, Nicole, holds the significant role of Directors at the Minnesota Juniors Volleyball Club. In this capacity, he leverages his extensive knowledge and experience to nurture young talent, providing aspiring athletes with the opportunities and guidance needed to reach their full potential. Through his leadership, Salmon plays a crucial role in shaping the future of volleyball in Minnesota. Furthermore, Salmon's contributions extend beyond the volleyball court. He serves as the Tribal Liaison for the White Earth Nation, a role of great importance. In this capacity, he forges connections between the tribe and external organizations, working tirelessly to preserve the heritage, traditions, and values of the White Earth Nation. His unwavering dedication to his community's well-being has a profound and far-reaching impact.

< Back Carol L. (Pickett) Hull Carol L. (Pickett) Hull Inupiaq Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 An Alaska Native Games icon from Alaska, Carol Pickett won the 1989 Denali Award as Alaska’s Sportsperson of the Year. Even as a teenager she proved to be a natural with jaw-dropping kicks that reached 7 feet, pushing the women’s records to new heights. She still holds the world record in the traditional one-foot high kick, set in 1990. Born and raised in Anchorage, AK, Carol began participating in traditional Native sports in 1979. Since then, Carol has competed successfully in the Native Youth Olympics, World Eskimo Indian Olympics and Arctic Winter Games – Inuit Sports. For 30 plus years of participating in traditional Native sports, Carol has won over 100 medals to her collection as well as the 1989 Alaska State Sportsperson of the Year, Outstanding Contributor Award from World Eskimo Indian Olympics and various other recognitions. Married to fellow Alaska Native Games icon Garry Hull, Carol continues to support traditional Native games events by volunteering, coaching, organizing and officiating events. <Back

< Back Greg Edgelow Greg Edgelow Cree Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Greg Edgelow is a retired Olympic freestyle wrestler born in Edmonton, Alberta and living in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Edgelow is a nationally certified Aboriginal Wrestling Coach with Cree Ancestral Heritage from Manitoba Canada and European mix. In 2018, Edgelow was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, Indigenous Gallery. Edgelow won at every level of wrestling. He was a juvenile, junior and six-time Canadian senior wrestling champion (7 Freestyle and 1 Greco) and 5 times top-10 placing at the world championships (fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth). He represented Canada at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain placing 11th and won a bronze medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, two bronze medals at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, a silver medal at the 1992 Pan American Championships, Toronto and a gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria. Edgelow is the only Canadian to win a medal in wrestling (bronze) at the Goodwill Games. He is also the only Canadian wrestler to win four separate consecutive senior freestyle weight classes (82 kg, 90 kg, 96 kg, 100 kg). His last senior national title was in 1998, where he represented Canada (100 Kg) at the World Championships in Tehran, Iran. He is a two-time NAIA All-American for Simon Fraser University, while placing #1 in Minot, ND at 177 lbs. in 1986. Edgelow was awarded the 1999 Canadian Sport Leadership Award for his outstanding athletic achievements and leadership in volunteerism, beating out fellow finalist, Hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Edgelow was the motivational speaker at the Parade of Nations for the 1997 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) Victoria and member of Aboriginal Team BC Mission Staff at NAIG 2006 Denver and Assistant Chef de Mission, Team BC at NAIG 2008 Cowichan. He worked with the BC Boys U-16 Soccer team at the 2017 NAIG Toronto where they earned gold. Edgelow created an endowed wrestling scholarship fund at his Alma Mata, Simon Fraser University in 1996 that has financially assisted over 35 university wrestlers since its creation. Edgelow works in Indigenous relations at the corporate level providing economic development, jobs and training for Indigenous people and businesses. <Back

< Back JJ Corn JJ Corn Menominee Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Jonathan JJ Corn is a retired boxer from the Menominee Nation. JJ began his boxing career fighting on Joe Swedes’ Neopit-Keshena boxing team from 1987-1991 until joining the Army. JJ’s early titles included being the 1988 Michigan Silver Gloves 95 lbs. Champion, 1990 Wisconsin Golden Gloves 132 lb. champ, 132lb National Indian Champ and Upper Midwest Jr. Gloves 132 lb. Champion. After basic training in 1992 at Ft Knox, Kentucky JJ was sent to Ft Carson Colorado and in 1993 was given the opportunity to compete for the post Championship and won it at 156 lbs. and won a spot to compete for the All Army Title. He dropped down in weight and fought at welterweight 147 lbs. and went to Ft Huachuca in January of 1994 where he won three fights to take home the All Army award. The Army team went to Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk, Virginia to compete for the Armed Forces title. The Army team swept the Armed Forces tournament and went 12-0 and a feat that hadn’t been accomplished before or since. The Army team went to the US championships, made it to the semi-finals and received a #5 ranking with USA boxing. That ranking earned them a spot to fight internationally and also competed in the US Olympic Festival. He also boxed that April in Dublin, Ireland in a USA vs. Ireland dual meet. In 1994 he competed in the US Olympic Festival in St Louis, Missouri, and in the Military Olympics in November 1994 in Tunis, Tunisia. JJ finished his amateur career with 12 amateur titles including the 1988 Michigan Silver Gloves 95 lbs., 1990 Wisconsin Golden Gloves 132 lbs., 1990 National Indian Champion 132 lbs., 1990 Upper Midwest Jr. Gloves, 1993 Ft Carson Post 165 lbs., 1994 All Army Champ 147 lbs., 1994 Armed Forces 147 lbs., 1994 Olympic Festival bronze medalist, 1995 Colorado Golden Gloves 147 lbs., and 1995 North American Indigenous Games gold medal 147 lbs. He finished his amateur career with a record of 106 wins 12 losses. As a professional JJ won the WAA World Title, the USA Mid-American Light Heavyweight title, the Midwest Light Heavyweight title and fought for the WBO World Middleweight title, IBF International Middleweight title and the IBA International Jr. Middleweight title. <Back

< Back Eddie Rogers Eddie Rogers Ojibwe Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Coach 2026 While driving through Walker, Minnesota, countless drivers pass a bronze bust statue outside the courthouse not knowing it is there. It is Eddie Rogers. Eddie Rogers was born in Libby, Minnesota on April 14, 1876, near the site of the 1850 Sandy Lake Tragedy. His father was a pioneer lumberman and mother was Ojibwe. His Ojibwe name was Ay-Nay-Way-We-Dung translated to Echo in the Woods. Rogers attended Carlisle Institute in 1897, one of the first boarding schools that were determined to erase the ethnic identity of native students and assimilate them into American citizens. Rogers began playing football at Carlisle and quickly rose to star athlete status and served as team captain in 1900. In 1901 Rogers came home to Minnesota and enrolled in law school at the University of Minnesota. He joined the football team and was named captain in 1903. During the same season the Golden Gophers had an 11-0-1 record winning the Big Ten title and Rogers was named third- team All-America. The next season Rogers returned to Carlisle as head coach and had a 9-2 record. He was there one season and again came home to Minnesota and in 1905 he coached the College of St. Thomas football team to a 14-9-1 record. In 1907 his team was undefeated at 7-0. Rogers soon began his longtime law career. In 1910, he was elected Cass County attorney, a position he held for over 45 years. In 1912, he was elected as the chief of a council including 10 Ojibwe tribes. He served as the vice president of the National Council of Indian Affairs and was a charter member of the National Congress of American Indians. Rogers had a 62 year career in law retiring at age 90. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968 and in the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. <Back

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.

Tanner Albers Category Athlete Tribe Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 2/12/1977 - 2/2/2010 Tanner Albers was a team captain for the 1994 and 1995 Boys Basketball Teams at Takini High in South Dakota. In both of those years he was the team’s leading scorer, earning All-State and All-Tournament honors while leading the Skyhawks to back-to-back state tournament appearances. He was also a team captain for the 1997-98 United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) Thunderbirds where he led them to the school’s first Junior College National Tournament appearance. That year he earned 1st Team Mon-Dak All-Region, Mon-Dak Region 8 Player of the Year, and was the school’s first, 1st Team All-American. Tanner is currently still the school’s all-time leading scorer UTTC. Tanner played for the Division I Delaware State University Hornets for the 1998-99 season and finished up his collegiate basketball career at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. Up until his passing in 2010, Tanner had traveled across North America, playing in many basketball tournaments with teams Iron 5, Iron Boy, Rim Rats, Pure Method, and many others. He would often receive MVP, All-Star, and others honors because of his amazing scoring and shooting talents. He had the opportunity to coach at the collegiate level and was a co-creator of HOOPGOD Basketball Camps. Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

Sunnie R. Clahchischilgi Category Media Tribe Diné (Navajo) Year Inducted 2022 Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi is a longtime storyteller from the Navajo Nation. She spent over a decade as sportswriter for the Navajo Times, telling stories of high school, college, and professional Navajo athletes. Clahchischiligi, a former athlete, developed an admiration for sports and storytelling at a young age. She completed six internships in three years, one at Sports Illustrated magazine in New York City. Clahchischiligi earned multiple awards for her writing in sports, editorial, community coverage, elder coverage, and investigative reporting. She wrote for the St. Cloud Times, the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Osage News, Searchlight NM, and the Salt Lake Tribune. From her extensive coverage of basketball on the Navajo Nation, she has been dubbed an expert in rezball, a fast-paced style of basketball played throughout Indian Country. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, to name a few. Clahchischiligi has a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico, a master’s degree in rhetoric, writing, and digital media studies from Northern Arizona University, and is currently a PhD candidate in rhetoric and writing at UNM. She also teaches composition in the English department. Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

Eddie Lone Eagle Category Athlete Tribe Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Year Inducted 2022 Eddie Lone Eagle grew up on the streets of Minneapolis as a young man and wanted to give his life more meaning by being a part of something much bigger than himself. In 2011 he witnessed local powerlifters at the Los Campeones Gym on Franklin Avenue in South Minneapolis and discovered his true calling. Lone Eagle is a citizen of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation, a member of the Eagle Clan, and also a descendant of the White Earth Nation. After finding himself intrigued by the power of lifting, he started powerlifting in 2011 at the Los Campeones Gym. He knew he wanted to be committed to be one, too. In 2013, he won the International Powerlifting League (IPL) World Powerlifting Championships in the 165 lb. weight class with a 529 lb. squat, 352 lb. bench, and a 551 lb. deadlift, with a 1432 lb. total. He became a World Champion in the World Affiliate of United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) Federation. In 2020, Lone Eagle was invited to lift at the Pro Day at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. His personal records were 925 lb. squat, 535 lb. bench, and 615 lb. deadlift for a qualifying total of 2075 lbs. in the 220 lb. weight class, qualifying him for the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) World Championships in Illinois that following October. His future and main goals in powerlifting are to be invited to lift at the World Powerlifting Organization (WPO). Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

< Back Ukaleq Slettemark Ukaleq Slettemark Inuit Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Ukaleq Slettemark is a Greenlandic Biathlete who competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she was the only biathlete, regardless of gender, who hit all 30/30 targets in the individual and sprint competition. In 2019 she won gold in the youth World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. She has several other top 10 results in the Junior World Championships from 2017, 2019 and 2021. Ukaleq is inuk and grew up in Greenland with no access to a biathlon shooting range. In 2016 she moved to Norway to pursue biathlon. She currently lives in Norway where she trains and competes with a Norwegian private team. In Norway she is considered one of the best biathletes in her age group, with several podiums and gold Medals in the Norwegian cup and Norwegian championships, as well as a few podiums in the senior category. Norway is considered the best biathlon nation in the world. In 2018 she won the overall Norwegian cup score for the girls 17 group. Photo: Proudly wearing a sealskin cap during training. <Back