Honoring Those That Came Before Us...
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* Philip Red Eagle Inducted into Indian Athletic Hall of Fame *
What a show! (December 14, 2009)
The power of this event keeps getting stronger and stronger. One thing that came up often was the need for identity and support for our athletes and Native youth. This is a great start. Our people are very humble and the Hall of Fame is here to recognize their accomplishments and efforts. Many people are shocked to hear the accomplishments of our inductees, something that has been unknown by many for far too long. We will be organizing this effort in the attempt to permanently place pictures, jerseys, and even videos into the MSUB location. We continue to gather records and statistics to be placed in a document for download. These success stories will be known and the communities and especially the youth, will understand the strength or their relatives and tribes.
Information from the December 11th, 2009 Event:
3rd Annual Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame Agenda
3rd Annual Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees & Information
| 2009 Induction Photos |
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The hall of fame is the creation of Don Wetzel, Sr. a former Cut Bank and University of Montana standout and coach. It came out of a talk he had with his father about 10 years ago concerning the need to recognize Indian athletes.
The Hall of Fame will bring the past to the present, showing the youth and the native communities that we have our own legends among us and for those that have past, we will restore their memory and accomplishments.
This has never happened for the Native Athletes of our state and with so many great athletes and teams representing Indian Country, this is definitely necessary.
The Hall will recognize college and high school athletes, coaches and teams from all sports venues that have documented accomplishments. All-State, All-American, State Championships and MVPs. Record breakers and record holders that made their community proud during their amazing championship runs.
"I started looking at the '20s and '30s and found there were all-state teams and I never knew about those players and coaches," Wetzel said. "I felt the need to bring them out and recognize them. There were some that were just legends that will pop to the front."