It may not be the most important aspect of society, but sports does play a hugely important role in the way we live our lives. It is a shame, therefore, that the contributions Native and Indigenous athletes have made to this country are sometimes forgotten or glossed over. As a very visible way of showing what this country is, forgetting the Native American athletes that have been a part of that is yet another way of erasing our past.
There are countless Native American athletes who have broken historic and social barriers over the years, but their heritage has either been overlooked or remained invisible to the wider population. When it comes to sporting success, the background of an athlete may not be the most important factor, but it is of importance. These are the men and women who become heroes across the country and become the names to look out for when it comes to online betting in the US, according to insights from OnlineSportsBetting.net .
In this article, we are going to celebrate some of the most famous Native American athletes. These are the athletes who managed to rise to the top of their profession, despite all of the obstacles that stood in their way. They continue to be an inspiration to us all, and their success should act as a lesson to us all about achieving our goals.
Jim Thorpe
Where else to begin but with a man who was a true sporting all-rounder, who excelled and won championships and titles all against the backdrop of intense racism and bigotry? Jim Thorpe was born in what is now the modern-day state of Oklahoma and was a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation.
The first Native American to win an Olympic gold representing the US, Thorpe’s versatility saw him play professional football, baseball, and basketball, on top of his pentathlon and decathlon medal success. After winning his first gold in 1912, Thorpe played for the New York Giants baseball team for six years, while also winning football championships with the Canton Bulldogs and barnstorming as a pro basketball player.
Thorpe was controversially stripped of his Olympic titles after it was alleged that he broke strict amateur rules. But in 1983, three decades after his death, the IOC reinstated his achievements and put right an injustice against one of the greatest Native American athletes the US has ever seen.
Billy Mills
Born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Billy Mills, also known by his Oglala Lakota name, Tamakhóčhe Te’Hila, encountered great poverty and was orphaned as a child before attending the University of Kansas on a scholarship. There, he became a three-time NCAA All-America cross country runner.
After graduation, Mills joined the Marine Corps, but continued with his running, qualifying for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Despite being virtually unknown, Mills sensationally took the 10,000m gold in what is still considered one of the great upsets of the games. He became the first non-European to win the event and is still the only person from the Americas to do so.
Louis Tewanima
Billy Mills may have won an Olympic gold, but there is another Native American runner who had already made a name for himself and destroyed preconceptions about his ability. Louis Tewanima was a Hopi raised in Arizona, but forcibly moved by the US government to New Mexico when he was still in his teens. While he was a student at the Carlisle Indian School, he was a teammate of Jim Thorpe’s on the track and field team.
Tewanima finished second in the 10,000m at the 1912 Paris Olympics, becoming the first Native American to win a silver medal, and his achievement was the best by any American until Billy Mills won gold 52 years later. Tewanima had already competed in the marathon at the 1908 Olympics, but spent the rest of his life back on the reservation and is still regarded as a local – and national – hero.
Clarence John Abel
Known more commonly by the nickname “Taffy” thanks to his love of candy. Clarence John Abel is a Native American sports athlete who won an Olympic medal and national championships, all the time forced to hide his true ancestry. Abel was an Ojibwe who was born in Michigan and played in the first organized hockey league in the US.
Abel was named to the 1924 US Olympic hockey team, with whom he would score 15 goals on the way to winning silver. He also served as the team’s flag bearer. After the games, he joined the NHL’s New York Rangers, where he won his first Stanley Cup. He would win his second in his final year as a professional with Chicago.
It was only six years after his retirement that he was able to reveal his true ancestry, and he would later go on to coach hockey back in Michigan. Nine years after his death in 1964, Taffy Abel was finally recognized for the great player he was when he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
Charles Albert Bender
Born on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota, Bender excelled in track, football, and baseball as a child and was eventually “discovered” by the Philadelphia Athletics, who signed him as a pitcher in 1903. He faced discrimination and racism throughout his career, but would give as good as he got and beat all of his critics with his incredible baseball talent.
Credited with inventing the slider pitch, Bender would win three championships with the A’s, once pitching three complete games in a single World Series. He would continue playing until the age of 44, when he pitched his final season with the Chicago White Sox. After coaching in the majors and minors, as well as scouting, Bender was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954. He died one year later.
