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 Join Native News Online Publisher Levi Rickert on this week’s Native Bidaské as he interviews The North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame (NAIAHF) founders Dan (Oneida) and Susan Ninham(Red Lake Ojibwe) and gold medal Olympian and 2023 NAIAHF Inductee Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota).


NAIAHF celebrates the Indigenous sports cultures of North America by recognizing outstanding leadership and achievement in individual and team athletics. 

 This year’s class of NAIAHF inductees includes more than 75 athletes, coaches and teams honored for their athletic achievements and contributions to their respective sports.

Inductees are Indigenous to North America, with Native identification including but not limited to Tribal, First Nation, Métis and Inuit, including federally recognized and self-identified descendants. 

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In one of the greatest Olympic underdog stories, Mills took the gold in the 10,000-meter run in the 1964 Tokyo Games as a virtual unknown. Mill’s win marked the first time a non-European won the event, and he remains the only athlete from the Americas to win gold in the event.  

This episode will discuss the history of the NAIAHF and the mission behind it for future generations. Inducted into the NAIAHF this year, Mills gives insight into the path to becoming a record-setting Olympian and the obstacles he overcame to get there. 

Due to technical difficulties today with Native Bidaské, we were unable to have Billy Mills on this episode. We plan to have him on again, very soon. Thank you for your understanding. 

To watch this episode, tune into the live stream on the Native News Online FacebookTwitter, or //www.youtube.com/@NativeNewsOnline/streams 

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