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Michael Daney <Back Choctaw Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach/Athlete 2024 Michael Daney is a member of the Oklahoma Choctaw Tribal Nation. He was a track and cross country athlete at Haskell Indian Junior College, Oklahoma Baptist University and Northeastern Oklahoma State University, and a coach at Haskell Indian Junior College and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute where he is currently a health and physical education instructor. Daney serves as a coach, mentor, and facilitator of the Sport Warriors Track Club, a program that is designed to encourage and assist Native American post-collegiate runners to continue to compete on a national level in USATF national competitions. Daney mentored and coached three runners that qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. As an athlete at Haskell Indian Junior College, he was a two-time NJCAA national cross country qualifier and was named the cross country team MVP while earning letters in cross country, basketball, and track. While being an athlete at Oklahoma Baptist University, Daney was a member of the NAIA Cross Country All Conference Team, NAIA District 9 Cross Country Champion, and NAIA National Cross Country Qualifier. He was All Conference in the Three Mile Run and Steeplechase and was also named to the NAIA All Region Team Steeplechase. Daney also attended Northeastern Oklahoma State University, and he was the winner of the NIAA Native American Cross Country Championship, Conference Track Champion and school record holder in the one and two mile Daney began his college coaching at Haskell Indian Junior College and was a part of the four-peat Haskell’s Men’s Marathon National Championships that is still an NJCAA record. His men and women’s teams qualified for seven NJCAA National X-Country Championships and were all top 10 finishes. Daney coached 18 male and female All-Americans including one national champion and he was a two-time NJCAA Region X-Country Coach of the Year. Daney also coached 10 NJCAA National Championship at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute. He coached 23 All-Americans and seven individual national champions. He was named NJCAA Regional Coach of the Year five times and National Coach of the Year 10 times. Daney currently lives in Albuquerque, NM, with his wife, children and grandchildren.

< 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

< Back Alexis Desjarlait Alexis Desjarlait Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Alexis Desjarlait has been involved with athletics since she could remember. She was on the Bemidji Bombers traveling team from 3rd grade until 5th grade then attending her first year of AAU basketball. In between that time frame, she was on the Bemidji Blaze fastpitch team as well. Desjarlait played volleyball, basketball and softball for six years at a varsity level and carried that three-sport athletics at Hibbing Community College (HCC). The 2018 high school graduate scored 2,190 points for Red Lake to rank second in program history and also had a total of 995 rebounds. The Warriors had a 129-25 record during her career and headlined the programs first-ever run to the state tournament in 2017. The success carried over with her 44-13 record at HCC. In two seasons as a Cardinal, Desjarlait scored a school-record 1,057 points and grabbed 512 rebounds. She was the All-Region XIII MVP and an NJCAA Division III All-American honorable mention selection in 2019-20. Desjarlait also earned spots on the Minnesota College Athletic Conference’s All-Northern Division First Team and All-State First Team in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns, and she cracked the MCAC All-Defensive Team during the 2020 season. In 2018-19, she led the Cardinals to their first-ever national tournament appearance. Desjarlait was also awarded Region XIII MVP 2020. She is now a junior at NCAA Division III Concordia University Chicago. <Back

< Back Michael Thompson Michael Thompson Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Michael “Mike” Thompson is a member of the Mohawk Nation and has lived, played and coached in Akwesasne for most of his life. He is one of the most decorated indoor box lacrosse goaltenders to ever play the game of box lacrosse, yet is kind, giving and humble to the core. Thompson played field lacrosse in high school and was an effective and intimidating defenseman. He began playing box lacrosse goalie at the age of 20 while playing in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse league for the Akwesasne Lightening. He was a natural and quickly made a name for himself as one of the top goaltenders of his generation. He first played professional box lacrosse for the Ottawa Rebels and later enjoyed a professional career with the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League where he won the NLL Championship in 2008. During the summers, Thompson played in the Ontario Major Series Lacrosse League, often called Senior A, with the Peterborough Lakes. He won two Mann Cup Canadian National Championships with the Lakers and was named MVP of the Championship series when they won in 2012. Winning a Mann Cup is considered the pinnacle of success in the lacrosse world and being awarded the Mike Kelley MVP trophy was one of the greatest honors of his life. Thompson also enjoyed success with the Iroquois Nationals Men’s Box Lacrosse team having competed three World Championships. Thompson retired from professional lacrosse in 2012 to focus on coaching his two sons who are also incredibly talented and dedicated lacrosse players. He currently resides in Akwesasne with his wife, two sons and his daughter. <Back

< Back Edison Eskeets Edison Eskeets Navajo Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Builder 2023 Edison Eskeets is an enrolled member of the Navajo Tribal Nation. He attended and received diplomas from Haskell Indian Junior College, Kansas, and Bradley University, Illinois. A First Team All-American Runner, invested in Native traditional education composed with the mainstream educational school system at large. Edison taught at the Orme School, an international school, and the Native American Preparatory School serving in the following capacities: Chair of the Fine Arts, Teaching the Arts and Humanities, Coaching Track & Field and Cross Country, Academic Dean, Associate Head of School, Head of School. In addition, he served as the Executive Director on behalf of Wings of America, serving Native youth programs throughout Indian Country. Edison made every effort in making a difference within Native communities and went beyond boundaries: fundraising, grant writing, lectures, presentation of Native Arts, collaborating programs with colleges/communities, and seeking funds from government, foundations, corporations, individual donors, state funds, and tribal funds. It is vital to maintain the goodness of all indigenous societies including culture, language, ceremonies, food, and underscoring the history of the Americas, from Chile to Alaska. At one time, there were over 80 million indigenous population in the Americas and today’s count is almost 6 million. Therefore, Education, Athletics, Native programs, Higher Education, Funds, and Leadership must be nurtured. His final employment was under the Hubbell Trading Post at Ganado, Arizona operated by the Western National Parks Association. He is the first Navajo trader to manage the Hubbell Trading Post, the oldest continuously operating trading post on the Navajo reservation. This environment included education of Native arts: metal smithing, rug weaving, wood carving, painting, pottery, leather works, and trading items with fellow customers. Currently, he is promoting a new book titled “Send a Runner,” a book illustrating the history of the southwest embodied with Native traditional ultra-running. Photo Credits: Joseph Kayne and Fairfield Half Marathon (CT) <Back

August Wesley <Back Narragansett Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach/Athlete 2025 August Wesley is an international wrestler and head coach. He is a Narragansett Indian and given the name Hiawatha in representing the tribe located in Charlestown, Rhode Island. August is an accomplished wrestler that represented Team USA six times including the UWW Veteran World Championships. He is a gold medalist competing for Sunkist and also won six USA Greco-Roman National Team Championships. Wesley is a highly decorated coach with over 30 years coaching experience. He was selected 14 times to lead USA teams at international competition in 27 countries on five continents. He has led USA teams to five team titles, twice in Australia, and in Germany, Austria and Hungary. Nationally he offers technical wrestling clinics and motivational speaking. Wesley was selected to coach at the US Olympic Training Center. He has a Bronze Certification with USA Wrestling, accredited interscholastic certification, and is a former member of the California Coaches Association. These credentials and achievements culminated in his selection as a state representative for USA GRIT (Greco-Roman Initiative Team) for his years of dedication and development of the sport. Wesley was nominated as the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Coach of the Year. He received West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors, and named a two-time college coach of the year at Sacramento State University after winning two California State Championships. While at Iowa State University as Head Club Coach they achieved five All Americans, qualified 24 wrestlers to the national's, and also winning the Great Plains Conference team title. He earned international success as the outstanding freestyle coach, leading Team USA to a championship trophy in Austria and Australia. Wesley accumulated over 145 high school wins and has guided many wrestlers to receiving NCAA Division 1 scholarships through his club California Elite. He served as assistant coach at the Senior Nationals and Sierra College capturing the California State Championship. He was the head coach for CPV at the 2022 and 2023 UWW World Championships in Europe. Wesley also coached the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Continental Championships in Africa and 2024 Paris Olympic Qualifiers. He serves as the Cabo Verde Secretary General and President of referees commission for Africa. Wesley was nominated to the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements.

< Back Roger Vyse Roger Vyse Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Roger Vyse is Mohawk, and member of the turtle clan from Six Nations, Ontario Canada. Growing up on the Six Nations reserve, lacrosse was the dominant sport especially in Vyse's family. Vyse played lacrosse for over 30 years starting at the age of four years old until he retired at the age of 36. Along the way Vyse was a long-standing member of the Iroquois Nationals box and field lacrosse teams starting in 1999 with the under 19 bronze medalists in Adalaide, Australia. Vyse attended Herkimer Community College where he started on attack and was a 2x All American. In his second and final season at Herkimer in 2003, Vyse and his teammates won the NJCAA championship going 18-0 on the season. Vyse played lacrosse at Limestone College Division II. Limestone would make the Division II finals both seasons (2004, 2005) but come up short losing both games in overtime. In Vyse's final season at Limestone, he broke the Division’s 34-year-old goals per season record by one goal (71). He led the team in goals and tied for most assist (71 goals, 29 assists = 100 points) in his final season of college lacrosse. Vyse would be drafted into the National Lacrosse League 13th overall in 2006 by the Buffalo Bandits. Vyse would help the team win the NLL title in 2008. He played six seasons with the Bandits and was nominated to play in the All Star game in 2009. He also played a season in Toronto and Philadelphia to end his NLL career. In the summer's he played for the SR A Six Nations Chiefs during 2002-2016 and also the Sr B Six Nations Rivermen during 2015-2017. While playing for the Chiefs, Vyse and his teammates won the Mann Cup (Canadian Box Lacrosse Championship) three times in ‘13, ‘14 and ‘16. In the same time period in 2015, Vyse helped the Six Nations Rivermen win their first Presidents Cup (Canadian National Title) and was selected to the 1st All Star team as well as being tournament MVP. Vyse still resides from his hometown of Six Nations with his wife and four children with one on the way this summer. Vyse is a Student Mentor at Ogwehoweh Skills and Trade training Center which is also located on the Six Nations of the Grand River. <Back

< Back Jordin Tootoo Jordin Tootoo Inuit Induction Category: Year Inducted Atlete 2024 Jordin Tootoo made history as the first Inuk player to be drafted by the NHL. Over his 13-year career, he played for the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, and Chicago Blackhawks, banking 161 points, including 65 goals, in 723 career games. A trailblazer both on and off the ice, Tootoo has since become a vocal mental health advocate dedicated to giving back to his communities. He speaks to the power of creating a culture of inspired inclusivity and explores what real teamwork looks like, both at home and work. Of Inuit and Ukrainian descent, Tootoo is not only the first Inuk NHL player, but also the first one raised in Nunavut. He played for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1999 to 2003 and was drafted by the Nashville predators in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. Tootoo was nominated for the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2015, which recognizes players who enrich the lives of people in their community. He announced his retirement from the sport in 2018. As an Indigenous athletic leader, Tootoo has long understood his responsibility as a role model and speaks openly about the need to fight the stigma around mental illness and to provide more mental health support. He founded the Team Tootoo Foundation in honour of his late brother Terence, to provide grants to various charities for suicide prevention and at-risk youth. In 2016, Tootoo was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal through the Order of Canada in recognition of his work. Action Photo Credit: Jordin Tootoo #22 of the Detroit Red Wings skates against the Nashville Predators at the Bridgestone Arena on February 19, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. Frederick Breedon/Getty Images <Back

< Back Brett Bucktooth Brett Bucktooth Onondaga Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 While playing varsity lacrosse at LaFayette Sr. High School, New York, Brett Bucktooth was named a four-time All League player, a Central NY First Team All Star, and was an All American. He was the team captain and led the team to the Section 3 Championship three times and the team were NYS High School Class “C” State Finals Runner-up. Bucktooth played for the Canadian Jr. A and B teams and played 14 seasons with the Canadian Box Lacrosse Sr. B and A teams. While playing at Syracuse University, Bucktooth played midfield and attack positions and received team and individual honors. He led the Orange with 37 goals and 55 points his senior season. The team were 2004 NCAA D1 National Champions. He was named the 2005 STX/USILA All American Honorable Mention. He was also named to the 2006 STX/USILA All American Second Team, was team captain, and a USILA North-South Team Senior selection. He made the NCAA Tournament Team and the team were in the NCAA D1 Final Four in 2003, 2004 and 2006. Bucktooth had a 12 year professional career. He was the Major League Lacrosse 12th draft pick and played with the Boston Cannons, Rochester Rattlers, and Hamilton Nationals. He was the National Lacrosse League Third Draft Pick and played for the Buffalo Bandits, Vancouver Stealth, and New England Blackwolves. While with the Iroquois Nationals field lacrosse program, Bucktooth was the captain of the 1998 U15 World Games Tournament Festival team. He was named to the 2006 All World Team as a midfielder and was the captain of the 2014 bronze medal team and served as an assistant coach in 2018. During the indoor national team time, he was on the team that won the silver medal in 2007, 2011 and 2015 and he was the captain in 2011 and 2015. Brett is married to Sateiokwen and in her Mohawk language the translation is, “She picks things up evenly”. Fitting as she now harvests medicines and continues to use the language in running her own business. Brett is also a proud father to his children, Brett Jr, and Aura. <Back

< Back Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard CHamoru Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete/Builder 2023 Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard is a community organizer, Indigenous environmental conservation advocate, educator, and rock climber. She is Native CHamoru and Indigenous to the island of Guam, a US territory, but currently resides on the ancestral homeland of the Shawandasse Tula and Myaamia peoples in Cincinnati, Ohio with her partner and son. Mazzolini-Blanchard is the Co-Founder of the Indigenous Field Guide, a digital resource created to amplify Indigenous voices and provide public education to prevent the damage of non-renewable environmental and cultural resources, and she is also the Strategic Partnerships Manager for Access Fund, the nation's leading climber advocacy organization. She is an athlete representing Mammut North America, Gnarly Nutrition, SCARPA North America, Rhino Skin Solutions, and Asana Climbing. <Back

Terry Ware <Back Kiowa Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach 2026 Terry Ware has been a classroom teacher and coach for over 37 years coaching high school basketball, baseball, football, track and field, and cross country at Riverside Indian School in Oklahoma. During his 37 years at Riverside, he has coached 20 high school All-State selections including one high school All-American in Track and Field and Cross-Country and coached 15 Oklahoma Class All-Stars in track and field, baseball, and basketball. He has 200 total wins across multiple sports, 25 State Tournament appearances, 23 District Championships, and 16 Regional Championships. He has assisted with sending 21 athletes to NCAA Division II and III programs, 25 to NAIA schools, and 14 to junior colleges on athletic scholarships. As the associate head coach for the Riverside Indian School Special Olympics boys basketball team, which he helped build the program, he won nine high school Special Olympics state championships from 1989-1998. He also coached Team Oklahoma’ Special Olympics All-Native American high school team in the 1998 World Games in North Carolina. Along with being a teacher/coach on the field, he has served as an elementary classroom teacher, tutor, and faculty sponsor who has been instrumental in guiding and serving as a mentor to Native youth in all grades. As a mentor and knowledge keeper, Terry Ware is instrumental in providing weekly pow wow singing and lessons to the local community as a way to guide and provide critical Indigenous knowledge for our up-and-coming Native youth leaders.

< Back James Walker James Walker Standing Rock Lakota/Dakota Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 James Walker was born along the Missouri River in 1955. Shortly thereafter his family’s home got flooded and they had to move. He was sent to St. Josephs Indian Boarding School in Chamberlain, SD, when he was five years old. He was there seven years and was introduced to basketball. He went to Wilton, ND in the eighth grade and continued playing basketball and football until graduating in 1973. James was recruited by Dickinson State College to play basketball. When he was a sophomore in college, he tried out for the National Indian Activities Association national team and made the cut. The team had a scrimmage at the University of Mary against the defending state amateur basketball team. They went to Haskell, KS and had another scrimmage against their college team and then on to Baton Rouge, LA to play in the National Amateur tournament. We got beat but I got to play against some would-be Pros and D1 college players which really help me develop. James was named to the NAIA All American honorable mention team while at Dickinson State College. After college, he played Indian ball with the UTTEC team in 1975. In 1976, his team and part of the South Dakota team got together and formed the Lakota Coup Counters and they won the national tournament in Ft. Duchesne UT. They repeated in 1977 in Minneapolis and he was named MVP. He continued to play with the Coup Counters for 10 years and they were one of the top teams and always in the top three finishes at national tournaments. He then played with the Dakota Warriors in many tournaments, both Indian only and open tournaments. He was also named to the National Indian Activities Association (NIAA) Hall of Fame. <Back