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< Back Charley Norris Charley Norris Red Lake Band of Ojibwe Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Charley Norris was a five-time Pro Wrestling America (PWA) Heavyweight Champion. He was also a two-time PWA Tag Team Champion once with Sam Houston and the other with Derrick Dukes. He and Dukes were known as “Thunderblood” and they were the final champions since the title was later retired. He was a one-time Northern Premier Wrestling (NPW) Heavyweight Champion. Norris also was a Wrestle America 2000 Tag Team Champion. Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Norris #90 out of 500 wrestlers in 1993. He made his World Championship Wrestling (WCW) televised debut in 1993 and was a fan favorite while defeating Fury. He had a pay-per-view debut at the Fall Brawl event and defeated Big Sky. In 1996 Norris joined the American Wrestling Federation (AWF) and teamed with Tito Santana. He appeared in several independent cards for the next decade up to his retirement in 2006. He moved home to Red Lake, MN at that time. Additional details on Norris’ wrestling career is available on Wikipedia and matches are on YouTube. <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.

Wilton Littlechild Cree Induction Category: Year Inducted Builder 2022 <Back An Indigenous lawyer of Cree ancestry, bestowed as Honourary Cree Chief and International Chief, Wilton Littlechild was elected a Member of Parliament in Canada and Vice-President of the Indigenous Parliament of the Americas. Known for his advocacy, nationally and internationally on Human Rights and Traditional Games and Sports. Born in Maskwacis (Treaty No. 6), raised by his grandparents but taken at the age of six where he spent fourteen years in the Indian Residential School system. He witnessed and experienced various forms of abuse but was also introduced to sports, which he used to motivate his pursuit of excellence and run from abuse. He eventually excelled academically and in athletics; credits his traditional upbringing to seek balance in life; underpinned by spirituality and family support. Achievements: • Ten Athlete of the Year Awards • Holds three University and five Honorary Doctorate degrees (Physical Education, Law) • Eight Sports Halls of Fame • University of Alberta Most Outstanding Indian Athlete in Canada (twice) • Major Sports: Hockey, Baseball, Swimming • Centennial medal - Top 100 in Hockey • Order of Sport as inductee to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame • Over seventy-five Championships • Twice honoured in Switzerland and Olympic Games Ambassador

< Back Oscar Bunn Oscar Bunn Shinnecock Montauk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 In those early days of golf—years before he would even be able to be considered a U.S. citizen— Oscar Bunn, Shinnecock Montauk, was a marquee name. Bunn had been taught club making and the game by Shinnecock’s Scottish professional, Willie Dunn. At the second U.S. Open, in 1896 at Shinnecock Hills, Oscar Smith Bunn, came in at 12th. He played in the 1899 U.S. Open at Roland Park Baltimore with John Shippen. In Golf, By Appointment, June 1899 issue, writing about a course in Florida, we find: “The professional record of 36 plus 39 equals 75 is held by Oscar Bunn, the club instructor who, although young, has proved himself to be a first-rate golfer as well as a capital instructor and clubmaker.” In 1900, he was hand-picked to meet the titan Harry Vardon at Lake Placid, when the “Vardon Invasion” came to spread the gospel of golf. Bunn and Vardon would link up twice with Oscar winning the second match. In an article titled “Vardon’s Waterloo,” from The New York Argus, August 20, 1900, we find written, “Harry Vardon was defeated by Oscar Bunn, ‘The Indian’ ... 33—38.” In 1901, he set the course record at Quinapoxet, Connecticut. The July 15, 1905, edition of the New York Times. The headline reads: “Indian Contestant Holds His Own Well Against Scotch Rivals.” Bunn represented Shinnecock Hills at Van Cortlandt Park. A review of the literature finds him listed as a professional at Shinnecock Hills, NY; Lake Placid, NY; New Britain, CT; Jacksonville, FL; and Ampersand in Saranac Lake, NY. In 1917, Oscar would follow Mungo Park II to Argentina, to assist in building the first golf course there. With the help of Historians Victorian Nenno and Rosemary Maravertz of the USGA, Dr. Mark Wagner and the Bunn-Martine family initiated a process whereby Oscar's portrait -- painted by David Bunn Martine -- now hangs in the USGA Hall of Fame in Pinehurst. <Back

< Back Lorianna “Lori” Piestewa Lorianna “Lori” Piestewa Diné/Hopi Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Lorianna, a graduate of Miyamura High School in New Mexico, had the remarkable record of 152-5 in high school wrestling. She started her high school career in eighth grade while still going to school at J.F.K Middle School. She was state runner-up in her eighth grade year. Then, she won state four times after that at the weight classes 100, 107, and 114 pounds. She was ranked #2 in the country her junior year of high school and took runner-up at the National Recruiting Showcase. During her senior year while being unranked she took fourth at the biggest high school wrestling tournament in the world. She then signed to Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, CO to achieve her Health and Fitness Promotion Degree. She had torn her MCL during the first match of the season and sat out 2/3’rds of her first season. She then came back before RMAC championships where she took first. Loriana won the Regional 8 Tournament where she qualified for National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships. She took third place there finishing her freshman year with the record of 17-2. She won the U20 World Team Qualifier a month later. Lorianna competed in the U.S. Open tournament where she took fifth and qualified for the Senior World Team Competition, where she also took fifth. She is currently ranked #2 in the country for the weight class 124 pounds. Her goal is to show girls that no matter where they come from or how late they start their career, they can always achieve their goals. She wishes to make an Olympic team for wrestling and to possibly become a wrestling coach. In 2025, she was named to the U20 USA Women’s Wrestling World Team, the U20 USA National Champion, her third National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling All American, the 124 lb. regional and RMAC Champion, the Colorado Collegiate Woman Wrestler of theYear, and Academic All American. In 2024, she was named a U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals All American, Tricia Saunders Wrestling Hall of Fame State winner, Team New Mexico Wrestling Team Captain, Homecoming Queen, Wings of America Cross Country Team, New Mexico Cross Country Regional Champion and placed at the New Mexico State Cross Country Championship, and U.S. Marine Corps Academic All American. <Back

< Back Steve McDonald Steve McDonald Prairie Band Potawatomi Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Steve McDonald is a Life Member of the Professional Golf Association (PGA). He was a two-year, four-sport letterman at Haskell Indian Junior College in football, basketball, baseball and golf. McDonald played golf at Washburn University, where he won five college tournaments. As a golf professional he has won over 35 sanctioned PGA Midwest and South Florida Section tournaments, including the 1988 Midwest Section Match Play Championship. He was named seven times to the Midwest Section PGA Cup Team. He was also named four times as a member of the Midwest Section PGA District VII Cup Team and a two-time member of the South Florida Section Chapter Cup Team. McDonald won eight times on the First Nations Golf Associations Professional Golf Tour. He was twice named the First Nations Golf Association Player of the Year. He is a founding Board Member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (PBPN) Boys and Girls Club and The First Tee of Shawnee County. He was a Board of Trustee Member to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. In 2006 he served as Chef de’Mission for Team Kansas at the North American Indigenous Games held in Denver, CO and was also the Commissioner of Golf. He has visited over 25 Native American Reservations teaching youth golf. He was the Head Golf Professional at Addison Reserve, Delray Beach, FL, the General Manager of The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes, Lake Mary, FL, the Director of Golf Instruction at Lake Shawnee Golf Course, Topeka, KS, and the Vice President of Golf at Jacks Bay, a Tiger Woods designed golf course. McDonald is a two-time cancer survivor and the 2022 South Florida Section PGA of America Deacon Palmer Award winner. He is semi-retired but still playing and teaching, and to date he has given over 20,000 lifetime golf lessons. <Back

< 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 Richard Peter Richard Peter Cowichan Tribes Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 He was known as “Bear” to many people, not only a nod to his strength and the size of his hands, but also the size of his heart. Poll the world’s top wheelchair basketball coaches and players regarding about who they’d choose to build their ultimate dream team around and in the top five would be Duncan, British Columbia’s Richard Peter. A proud member of the Cowichan Tribes, community was a huge part of Peter’s upbringing. Strength of family and his own determination helped him overcome a terrible injury at age four when a school bus backed up over his chest breaking his hip and spinal cord just below the ribcage. Adjusting to life in a small community with few wheelchair-accessible buildings wasn’t easy, but Peter’s strength of character more than met the challenges. He graduated from public school and tried virtually every sport available. In 1994, Peter debuted on the Canadian national team and was a pillar of strength for Canada from 1996 through to 2012. Beginning in 1996, Peter represented Canada at five Paralympic Games helping capture three golds (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, London 2012) and a silver (Beijing 2008). In world championship play, Peter has been part of one gold medal-winning squad (2006) and three that earned bronze. Six times he led Team BC to the national championship. Individually, Peter is regarded as one of the fiercest defenders in the world, an effortless scorer, and one of the game’s most sportsmanlike players. In the latter years of his career, Peter was still a regular member of the national team and played professionally in Germany with club RSV Lahn-Dill where he lived part of the year with wife Marni Abbott-Peter, herself a BC Sports Hall of Famer. At the same time, Peter was already racking up an impressive array of accolades. Twice named winner of the Tom Longboat Award as Canada’s Male Aboriginal Athlete of the Year, he was also a two-time Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association Male Athlete of the Year, and the 2008 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year. Bio credit: Jason Beck, Curator of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. <Back

James Lavallée Category Athlete Tribe Métis Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 10/6/1997 Born and raised in Winnipeg, James is a proud Métis who grew up paddling on the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. James has represented Canada internationally at various kayak competitions including the 2014 and 2015 Canoe Sprint Junior World Championships. In 2016, James was named to Canada’s national canoe-kayak team. In 2017, James proudly wore his Métis sash on the podium after winning three medals for Team Manitoba at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg. In October 2017, he received the national Tom Longboat Award presented to the top Indigenous male and female athletes of the year. In 2019 James was presented with an Indspire award in the category of Métis youth. In the summer of 2020 James co-founded Waterways Recreation with the mission of supporting community wellness by using canoeing and outdoor recreation to connect Indigenous youth to cultural skills and identities. To date, Waterways has provided thousands of Indigenous youths with the opportunity to connect with their cultures through community led canoeing summer camps and paddling programs. When he is not out on the water sharing his passion for paddling James studies at Concordia University where he plans to major in management and minor in political science Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

David Powless Category Athlete Tribe Oneida Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 5/29/43 David Powless’ high school football team was the undefeated Illinois State Champions of 1960. He was an All State offensive tackle. He received college football scholarship offers. He chose the Oklahoma University (OU). He left OU as a sophomore and went to the University of Illinois and played offensive guard on the University of Illinois Big 10 and Rose Bowl Championship team in 1964. In 1965 as a graduating senior he was drafted in the National Football League (NFL) by the New York Giants and also by the American Football League (AFL) by the Kansas Chiefs. He was with the New York Giants one year and then went to the Washington Redskins his second year. That year he had a spinal injury requiring surgery that ended his football career. Powless worked for Native American tribes including his Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. He also owned several personal businesses. His expertise was in economic development. In 1983 he received an award in the “White House Rose Garden” from Vice President of the United States George Bush for the development of recycling technology. In 2008 he was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame for his athletic contributions. Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

< Back Asa Shenandoah Asa Shenandoah Lumbee/Tuscarora/Onondaga Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Asa Shenandoah, Daiaweñdodeh, represents two bloodlines. Her mother’s people, the Lumbee and Tuscarora Tribes of North Carolina, are river, swamp and coastal folk. Her father’s people welcomed the Peacemaker into Haudenosaunee territory on the Onondaga Lake. Though Shenandoah was adopted by her father’s nation at birth, her call to water comes from both sides. Shenandoah attended St. Andrew’s School in Delaware where she discovered rowing. She was moved to the top varsity boat as a sophomore, one of two underclassman on an all senior boat. That year she competed in the most prestigious high school rowing competition in the world, the 2004 Stotesbury Regatta. The team won with a time of 5:29:05 in the 1500m sprint. Their success secured them entry into the Henley Royal Regatta in England. Henley attracts Olympic and elite intercollegiate competitors from around the globe. Few high school programs participate. Her team set a divisional course record during the semifinals. They placed second in the finals. After college Shenandoah was approached to help create a Native crew team in Onondaga. At one time the lake had become one of the most polluted lakes in the world. She saw this as an opportunity to help to repair her community’s relationship with, and bring exposure to, the water. Shenandoah began coaching for the Syracuse City School crew team and Syracuse Chargers Rowing Club.These programs gave her the experience, certifications and support to grow the first indigenous crew team. Under her leadership the team gained representatives from across the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She built connections that brought the team instruction from the head coach of Colgate University, training with Virginia Commonwealth University Women’s team and use of Syracuse University’s training facilities. They competed in several regattas within the first year. This crew of mothers, grandmothers, college students and aunties advocated for women and promoted wellness within their community. Since COVID, however, they are on hiatus. The goal for Shenandoah having a boathouse on the lake would be the first time the Onondaga People would occupy a place on the water in a very long time. <Back

< Back Brady Fairbanks Brady Fairbanks Leech Lake Ojibwe Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 Brady Fairbanks, 2007 graduate of Cass Lake Bena High School (MN), was a Minnesota High School All-State athlete in football and basketball. During his high school career, Fairbanks was a three-year starter on the basketball team leading CLB to an 83-11 record, including 42-0 in conference play. In 2006-2007, he led CLB to the Class A State Championship game where the team came up just shy of victory in a memorable game. Accomplishments include: • Conference MVP (‘06 and ‘07), • Section 6 MVP (‘06 and ‘07), • Honorable Mention State (‘06), • 2nd Team All State (‘07), • McDonald’s All-American Nominee, • Minnesota Native American Athlete of the Year, • National High School Player of the Year (Native Elite Showcase) Fairbanks accepted a full scholarship to NCAA DII Bemidji State University, becoming a starter and earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Transferring to Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) after his junior year, Fairbanks had a historical year becoming the school’s first male athlete to become a NAIA All-American. Accomplishments include: • 7th nationally in scoring (20.9), • 14th in rebounding (6.3), • First Team All-Conference, • Conference New-Comer of the Year, • Team MVP, • 1,000+ Points (Collegiate Career). Photos: Haskell Athletics and Ryan White <Back