Indian Hall Of Fame Members To Be Celebrated In Poplar
A time to celebrate and honor the Fort Peck Reservation’s athletes of the past will take place on Friday, April 29, at the Thundering Buffalo Wellness Center in Poplar.
The Fort Peck Tribal Nations Hall of Fame Celebration will honor Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame inductees from 2007-2020.
Donnie Wetzel Jr., one of the founders of the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, noted, “In the early years, we couldn’t afford plaques. During the last year, we’ve received donations to purchase plaques.”
The celebration will include the presentation of plaques for athletes who were inducted into the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame from 2007-2014.
Those legends or their families scheduled to receive plaques include Philip Red Eagle, Louie Longee, Willie Weeks, Bill Smith, Bob Lowry, Bob Parsley, Mike Granbois, Dana Kirn, the 1936-Brockton Warriors’ Bighorn brothers Leonard, Ernie and Alpheus, and the 1974-75 Poplar Indians’ back-to-back boys’ basketball champions.
Inductees from 2016-2020 will also be recognized and honored. They include Kayla Lambert, Victor Bearskin, Spike Bighorn, Sam Mc-Cracken, Ken Smoker Jr., Jack Manning, John Weeks, Felix T. McGowan and Joe Bergie.
“It will be a gathering and celebration,” Wetzel said. “We want to respect and honor the legends.”
Sponsors include Fort Peck Tribes, Identity, National Endowment for the Arts and MAPS.
The event is scheduled to run from 6-8 p.m. Admission is free, and food will be provided thanks to the Fort Peck Tribes. The night will also include special recognition for Thomas R. Escarcega Sr.
Wetzel said he is especially hopeful that young people will attend the event.
“I want them to capture interviews, images and stories as much as possible,” Wetzel said. “Remembering their stories is what this is all about.”
He is hopeful that have such celebrations at each reservation in Montana during the next two years. The one in Poplar though is the first such event.
“We just want everybody to attend,” he said.
Wetzel noted that the first inductees in 2007 included Philip Red Eagle and Louie Longee who were standout athletes in the 1930s.
“They were shocked,” Wetzel said. “Louie Longee said that he thought people forgot about him.”
Other inductees in 2007 included Malia Kipp, Pete Conway II, Larry Pretty Weasel, Sam Horn and Marvin Camel.
The hall inducted members annually the first three years (2007-09), skipped a year before ceremonies in 2011 and 2012, and now has induction events every other year beginning in 2014.
Wetzel and his father, Don Sr., were the driving forces to create the Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
“It was discussed for a while,” Donnie Wetzel Jr. said. “I pushed forward to do it.”
