Search Results

< Back Teton Saltes Teton Saltes Oglala Lakota Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2024 Teton Saltes is a remarkable individual whose list of accomplishments is nothing short of extraordinary, all achieved by the age of 25. He stands as a symbol of unwavering dedication and the potential for change and impact at a remarkably young age. During his college football career, Saltes earned two Mountain West All-Conference honorable mentions and was twice honored as a Mountain West All-Academic. Notably, he holds the distinction of being the only college football major award winner in University of New Mexico history as the recipient of the prestigious Wuerffel Trophy. His four-year stint as a starting offensive lineman for the University of New Mexico football team showcases his exceptional athletic abilities and cemented his legacy as one of the best offensive lineman to ever play at UNM. In 2021, Saltes joined the NFL and was a member of the New York Jets. He played in the USFL in 2022 for the Michigan Panthers and secured a championship in the XFL in 2023 with the Arlington Renegades. Beyond his sporting achievements, Saltes's advocacy efforts are equally noteworthy. He addressed the United States Congress and testified before the New Mexico state legislature, passionately advocating for mental health support for student-athletes. His role as a board member in the BEAR Project in Pine Ridge, SD, demonstrates his unwavering commitment to community betterment. Saltes's academic accomplishments are as impressive as his athletic and advocacy feats. He graduated with a degree in political science and entered into a master of law graduate program, with intentions to eventually receive his Juris Doctorate. Saltes' legacy is a testament to the incredible impact an individual can have with determination, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to their goals. <Back

Team Member Name <Back Job Title Induction Category: Year Inducted Induction Category: Induction Category: Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go-to font for titles, paragraphs & more.

Awehiyo Thomas Category Athlete Tribe Cayuga Year Inducted 2022 D.O.B. 5/9/1986 Awehiyo Thomas (Beautiful Flower) is Cayuga Nation, Wolf Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She played competitive lacrosse on the international, NCAA DI and professional stage, with many Player of the Game awards. Awehiyo first started playing lacrosse in 1998 for Six Nations Girls Field Lacrosse, and later traveled to Cattaraugus, NY playing many years with the Seneca Girls Lacrosse Club under Sandy Jemison. In 2003, she had her first international experience with U-19 Team Canada, finishing third and being named the third-leading scorer on the squad. Awehiyo was a walk-on starter at Syracuse University, who transferred from Canisius College in her junior year. She started all 21 games and helped the team to its first NCAA Final Four in 2008 - as a senior she started all 19 games and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness. Awehiyo was a proud member of the Haudenosaunee National Women’s Lacrosse (HNWL) Team for many years, competing on the world stage in 2009, 2013 and 2017. In 2018, she was the first Haudenosaunee woman to play professional lacrosse with the Baltimore Ride in the UWLX league. Most recently, she was a member of the HNWL Sr. Team which placed first at the Pan American Lacrosse Association in 2019. As a veteran lacrosse player of 24 years and mother of four, soon to be mother of five, she continues to be a role model for many Indigenous girls coming up. She comes from a long line of great lacrosse players in her family including Grandfather Ivan Thomas, the 1997 Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee and great-grandfather Joseph Logan Jr., maker of the “Logan Special” lacrosse stick. To this day, Awehiyo’s lacrosse display at Woodland Cultural Center in Brantford, Ontario continues to be up for the public to view. Photos: Reems Landreth and Awehiyo Thomas Home 2026 Banquet 2026 Banquet Sponsorship About Inductee Search Provincial Nominees Contact More

< 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

Honoring and recognizing the empowered journey of North American Indigenous athletes. North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame By honoring and celebrating the empowered journey of these individuals and teams, the hope is their stories may inspire future generations to follow their dreams in athletics and life. Read About NAIAHF 2026 North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet Saturday, May 30th 2026 Oneida, WI USA Learn More Athletes Coaches Builders Teams Media Officials Trainers Inductee Search

< Back Alwyn Morris Alwyn Morris Kahnawake Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2023 Alwyn Morris was born on the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake. At the age of fourteen, he became interested in the Onake Paddling Club that operated on the Mohawk territory despite questions about why he didn’t want to pursue hockey or lacrosse. Morris excelled in the sport quickly, and at the age of 18 moved to Vancouver to train, where he met Hugh Fisher, his future kayak partner. In 1977, he won the K-1 1,000-metre and the K-1 500-metre junior national championships. That same year he was named the recipient of the Tom Longboat Award for the first time and one of the most prestigious awards for Aboriginal athletes in the country. In 1980, Alwyn Morris earned a spot on the Canadian Olympic team. He did not compete that year, but Alwyn and Hugh Fisher teamed up and continued to train in preparation for the Los Angeles Olympics. They raced in the 1984 Summer Olympic paddling competition in the K-2 event (kayak pairs) winning gold in the 1,000-metre competition and bronze in the 500 meter event. Alwyn was once again named as the recipient of the Tom Longboat Award, was later inducted into the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and appointed to the Order of Canada for outstanding service and achievement. Alwyn proudly raised an eagle feather on the Olympic podium. This gesture was an important symbolic moment about honouring lessons he had learned from his grandfather including perseverance and dedication. Following his career as a high-level and influential athlete for Team Canada, Morris has focused much of his time and energy in addressing barriers for Indigenous athletes. He established the Alwyn Morris Education and Athletic Foundation and continues to coach the youth of Kahnawake in kayaking, canoeing, and hockey. He was influential in the development of and continues to serve with the Aboriginal Sports Circle and has served with the Canada Games Council, the Canadian Sport Secretariat, and as a Special Policy Advisor for Aboriginal People and the Constitution to the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark during the Meech Lake and Charlottetown processes. In 1988, 2004 and 2010, Alwyn had the honour of bearing the Olympic torch through the Kahnawake Territory for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. On June 21, 2022, Western University bestowed an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Indigenous sports in Canada. <Back

Gerald “Jerry” Tuckwin <Back Prairie Band Potawatomi Induction Category: Year Inducted Coach 2023 For over 30 years, Jerry Tuckwin coached and taught Native Americans at Haskell Institute, Haskell Indian Junior College and Haskell Indian Nations University. Tuckwin also attended Haskell and graduated from Haskell Institute in 1960 with his high school diploma where he was very active in sports. He was fortunate enough to receive a track and field scholarship from the University of Wichita (later Wichita State University) where he earned his baccalaureate degree in 1964. He returned to Haskell in 1965 to coach junior college basketball and assist in track and field. The following summer he was drafted but elected to serve four years in the United States Air Force. He is a Viet Nam veteran. In addition to this military obligation, Tuckwin completed his Master’s degree at the University of Arizona. During this time, Jerry married college sweetheart, Terry Maupin. Upon his discharge from the Air Force, he returned to Haskell to resume his coaching responsibilities which lasted until 2001. It was during this tenure that he coached Native students who earned All-American honors 30 different times. He learned very quickly that the runners had the talents to succeed. All he needed to do was give them the workouts, nurture their self-confidence, but mainly help in the development of their self-esteem. “He believes his success can be attributed to his ability to bring out their self-worth; they had the talent”. Upon his retirement in 2001 from his educational duties and coaching responsibilities, Tuckwin pursued employment with his tribe, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation where he served as the Chairman of the Potawatomi Entertainment Corporation Board in the casino industry. During this semi-retirement era, Coach Tuckwin also garnered awards from Nike Corporation for his success with Native runners, the Seminole Nation of Florida, the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, Outstanding Alumnus from Haskell Indian Nations University, and the first Inductee to the Kansas City Chiefs as a result of his work and contributions to Indigenous youth. Tuckwin has two children (John and Shannon, whom is deceased), five grandchildren and one great grandson. All are alumni of Haskell with the exception of his great grandson. Tuckwin continues to be active with the Haskell Foundation, his work with the Haskell Tekakwitha Catholic Center and the Haskell Alumni Association.

< Back George Robert “GR” Carter Jr. George Robert “GR” Carter Jr. Osage Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 George Robert “GR” Carter Jr. is a retired professional race horse jockey. Carter was named the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) World Champion Jockey ten times in his career including six years consecutively from 2003-2007. No other jockey has won more than five titles. He finished his career as the all time leader in AQHA racing with $75,799,513 in mount earnings and also is the leader by wins with 4,013. Carter is proud of his native Osage heritage and he was born and raised in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He attended Indian Camp elementary school and graduated from Pawhuska High School in 1986. As a teenager, he was a competitive gymnast and won the state championship when he was 12 years old. During his senior year at Pawhuska High School, Carter won the Class A State Wrestling Championship at 108 pounds. Growing up, Carter was involved in ranching and rodeo, which helped develop his love of horses. At age 14, he began galloping race horses for a local trainer to help fund his rodeo participation. Throughout his senior year in high school, he would occasionally ride races on the weekends at Blue Ribbon Downs and Eureka Downs. After graduating from high school in 1986, Carter moved to Sallisaw, OK to become a full-time jockey at Blue Ribbon Downs. Carter won the All American Futurity twice, in 1998 aboard Falling in Love Again in 2008 aboard Stolis Winner. In 2008, Carter set a new AQHA single-season earnings record by reaching the $5,027,173 mark in mount earnings. May 31, 2009 was declared by Governor Brad Henry as GR Carter Day in Oklahoma. Carter was known throughout the racing world for his “back-flip” dismounts. After winning a stakes race, he often used his gymnastics background to celebrate by performing a back-flip off of the horse form the saddle. GR rode and won his first officially recognized race at 16 years of age in 1984 on a mare named Beas Jester owned and trained by his father George. He finished his career winning the Los Alamitos 2 Million on Flash and Roll in December 2018. Carter and his wife Shaena reside in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In his spare time, Carter is an avid team roper. He will occasionally enter professional rodeos, and own the Pro-Am at the 2007 World Series of Team Roping. <Back

< Back Awehiyo Thomas Awehiyo Thomas Cayuga Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 Awehiyo Thomas (Beautiful Flower) is Cayuga Nation, Wolf Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She played competitive lacrosse on the international, NCAA DI and professional stage, with many Player of the Game awards. Awehiyo first started playing lacrosse in 1998 for Six Nations Girls Field Lacrosse, and later traveled to Cattaraugus, NY playing many years with the Seneca Girls Lacrosse Club under Sandy Jemison. In 2003, she had her first international experience with U-19 Team Canada, finishing third and being named the third-leading scorer on the squad. Awehiyo was a walk-on starter at Syracuse University, who transferred from Canisius College in her junior year. She started all 21 games and helped the team to its first NCAA Final Four in 2008 - as a senior she started all 19 games and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness. Awehiyo was a proud member of the Haudenosaunee National Women’s Lacrosse (HNWL) Team for many years, competing on the world stage in 2009, 2013 and 2017. In 2018, she was the first Haudenosaunee woman to play professional lacrosse with the Baltimore Ride in the UWLX league. Most recently, she was a member of the HNWL Sr. Team which placed first at the Pan American Lacrosse Association in 2019. As a veteran lacrosse player of 24 years and mother of four, soon to be mother of five, she continues to be a role model for many Indigenous girls coming up. She comes from a long line of great lacrosse players in her family including Grandfather Ivan Thomas, the 1997 Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee and great-grandfather Joseph Logan Jr., maker of the “Logan Special” lacrosse stick. To this day, Awehiyo’s lacrosse display at Woodland Cultural Center in Brantford, Ontario continues to be up for the public to view. Photos: Reems Landreth and Awehiyo Thomas <Back

Builders 7G Foundation Bennae Calac Denise Waterman Ernie Stevens Jr. Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians Oneida Oneida Oren Lyons Onondaga Sam McCracken Sioux and Assiniboine Wilton Littlechild Cree

Algonquin/Iroquois Danny McCourt Algonquin/Iroquois Induction Category: Year Inducted Official 2023 <Back Danny McCourt worked as a National Hockey League Official for 25 years, just under 1,700 games from 1979 to 2004. From 2005 to 2022, he held the position as an NHL Officiating Manager in the Scouting & Development Department. From 2022 to current –he serves as a Consultant to the Senior Vice President & Director of Officiating for the NHL Stephen Walkom. Danny was hired by the NHL after working 1-1/2 years as an amateur Official living in Falconbridge, Ontario and one year in the International Hockey League, based in the Detroit area. When the WHA folded, the NHL took in four teams and needed 16 more officials. Six came from the WHA and he was one of the other 10 hired. His junior hockey playing career ended with winning an SOJHL championship with the Windsor Spitfires. Never being drafted to play in the NHL and knowing nothing about playing hockey in Europe, he changed his focus to officiating. Coaching was an option, if officiating didn’t get him to “the show” but he thought he could pursue that when he was older. When asked about his most memorable moment in the NHL, without hesitation he says his first regular season face-off in Edmonton versus Detroit and the two centres’ were his brother Dale, fellow 2023 NAIAHF inductee, and Wayne Gretzky. Dale won the face off.

Matt Roberson Wichita/Keechi Induction Category: Year Inducted Builder 2023 <Back Matt Roberson is the Executive Director for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Department of Athletic Regulation. Matt also serves as the Executive Officer and Region 6 Director for the North American Indigenous Games Council, as well as, serving as a Management Representative for Quivera Enterprises, Wichita Tribal Enterprises, Wichita Government Solutions and Iscani Industries. Matt is an enrolled member of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Keechi) and is originally from Anadarko, Oklahoma. Previously, Matt was elected to the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes Executive Committee and served as Southern Plains Regional Vice-President Alternate for the National Congress of American Indians. Matt was elected to two terms as President of The Association of Combative Sports Commissions. While under his leadership, The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Department of Athletic Regulation was recognized as the 2017 Organization of The Year by the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame. The Department of Athletic Regulation, also organized and hosted the First Annual “Meeting of The Clans” an All-Indigenous Amateur Boxing World Championship in 2022. In 2017, Matt received The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s prestigious “40 under 40 Award." In 2018, Matt was selected as an American Express NGEN Fellow and in 2022 completed Converge Social Justice Leadership fellowship through the American Express Leadership Academy.