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Saturday, May 30th 2026 Oneida Hotel and Conference Center; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA The North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame will recognize the 2026 inductee class as well as other annual inductees in an exclusive ceremony and lunch on Saturday, May 30, 2026. 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. Individual banquet tickets cost $50.00 USD each. Children ages 8 and above costs $30.00 USD each. Payment may be made via the postal service with a check/money order payable to: Empowered Youth Initiative Directives, Dan Ninham, PO Box 652, Red Lake, MN, 56671, USA or PayPal to code: coach.danninham@midco.net and make sure the full payment is USD. Austin Straubel International Airport: The Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, WI is across the road from the host Radisson Inn Hotel and Conference Center: https://www.flygrb.com/ Host Hotel Information: Oneida Hotel and Conference Center, https://www.oneidahotel.com/ Reservations for the Event will be made by individual attendees directly with Hotel’s reservation department. (Call 800-238-4263 or the hotel direct at 920-494-7300). In order to receive the group rate, your attendees must ask for a room in the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame 2026 room block. Additional Hotel Information: If and when the second hotel block gets booked, contact Dr. Dan Ninham for hotel considerations. There may be another hotel block offered but there may be good deals in the area. This is the NAIAHF website: https://www.naiahf.org/ Dr. Dan and Susan Ninham, Directors, NAIAHF, PO Box 652, Red Lake, MN, USA, 56671, cell: 218.368.6430 coach.danninham@gmail.com 2026 NAIAHF Banquet Weekend Schedule Saturday 5/30/2026 8:00am Morning Smudge Ceremony Dr. Artley Skenandore Oneida Hotel and Conference Center; Green Bay, WI Saturday 5/30/2026 9:00am Doors Open to 2026 NAIAHF Banquet NAIAHF Banquet: Opening Reception with Beverage Stations Three Clans Complex, Oneida Hotel and Conference Center Saturday 5/30/2026 9:30-11:50am Welcome and Moment of Silence: Susan Ninham Honor Song: Buffalo Creek Drum Sponsor Acknowledgment and Speaker Introductions: Dr. Dan Ninham Individual and Team Inductee Recognition: Susan and Dr. Dan Ninham Honor Song: Chief Philip Whiteman Jr. Saturday 5/30/2026 Noon-1:25pm Buffet Lunch Meal Blessing: Susan Ninham Banquet Buffet Lunch Music Performance: Keith Secola, Anishinaabe, Singer/Songwriter, https://secola.com/ Saturday 5/30/2026 1:30pm-2:15pm Oneida Smoke Dancers Saturday 5/30/2026 2:15pm Inductee Group Photo Meet and Greet Inductees Reception Drawing Prizes Traveling Song: Buffalo Creek Drum Inductee Banners Distribution

< Back Dean Hill Dean Hill Mohawk Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2022 Dean Hill excelled at hockey and lacrosse growing up in the Six Nations of the Grand River community. Hill enjoyed a very successful Jr. B lacrosse career with the Six Nations Rebels and the St. Catharines Spartans, which led him to being drafted by the Minnesota Swarm of the National Lacrosse League. Hill would play 10 seasons in the NLL recording 247 points in the regular season and adding 12 more in the playoffs. Hill was known as a power play specialist who many considered to have the best one-timer in the game. In his second NLL season he led the Minnesota Swarm with 32 goals with 12 of them coming on the power play. Hill won a Canadian University Lacrosse Championship with Brock University and a Canadian Sr. B Championship with the St. Regis Braves. He also helped the Iroquois Nationals win two Silver Medals at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in 2007 and 2011. In the 2007 gold medal game with Canada leading the Iroquois 14-13, Dean Hill scored with 5 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game. Canada would go on to win the game 15-14 in sudden death overtime. That game is still considered one of the most thrilling indoor lacrosse games ever played. Hill was known for being a great teammate and for his high lacrosse IQ. Upon his retirement from playing he made a seamless transition from player to coach and embarked on a very successful coaching career. He won two Canadian Championship Minto Cups with the Six Nations Jr. A Arrows in 2015 and 2017 and led the Six Nations Rebels to a silver medal finish in the Founders Cup Jr. B Canadian Championships in 2019. Sadly, Dean Hill passed away due to complications in his sleep September 6, 2021 at the age of 36. <Back

< 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 Rodger Ponfil Jr. Rodger Ponfil Jr. Menominee Induction Category: Year Inducted Athlete 2026 Rodger Ponfil Jr. started boxing at age 15, and in his first year won the Wisconsin State Junior Olympic Championship. In 1977 at age 16 he won a National Indian Activities Association (NIAA) championship at Carson City, NV. The following year he won the Wisconsin State AAU Title in the 112 lbs. Open Division. Also in 1978 he won the NIAA 112 lbs. National Title defeating Orvis Flying Horse of OK. After the 1978 NIAA title bout he flew to Biloxi, MS, and won four bouts in the National AAU championship then lost a disputed decision to Mike Felde of Missoula, MT. During the tournament Rodger defeated Jerome Coffee, the defending 112 lbs. champion and number one ranked boxer in the country. He also defeated Greg Richardson, a national Golden Gloves and AAU champion. Rodger was named to the All American Team and was ranked #2 in the nation in his weight division. While emerging as a national class boxer, the International Selection Committee assigned him to the 1978-79 USA International Team that competed against European, South American, African, and Asian teams in a series of televised bouts. <Back