In this episode, we speak with Dan Ninham, PhD, a retired physical education teacher and coach, co-founder of the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame and prolific freelance writer.
Dan, Wolf Clan from the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, has had a lifelong interest in sports. This 6’10” college basketball player devoted his working life to coaching and teaching sports. Even though he’s retired, he stays on the road much of the year, giving presentations at schools on Indigenous sports and foods and filing freelance stories for multiple outlets.
With wife Susan, he co-founded the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. The couple live in Red Lake and have recently celebrated the birth of a sixth granddaughter.
Transcript:
Dan Ninham: I was a college basketball player and have been interested in Indigenous athletics for my whole career. I’ve implemented Indigenous games in my curriculum wherever I went. I’m a lifelong learner. Even though I have a terminal degree, I don’t believe in expertise. I believe in being a knowledge carrier, it’s always growing.
Leah Lemm: Boozhoo, hello. Welcome to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. I’m your host, Leah Lemm.
Cole Premo: And I’m your other host Cole Premo. Miigwetch for joining us on Native Lights, which is more than a podcast and radio show. At its core, it’s a place for Native folks to tell their stories. Each and every week, we have captivating conversations with great guests from a whole lot of different backgrounds. We’re talking musicians, artists, community leaders, educators, language warriors, you name it. They have a wonderful mixture of passions. We talk to them about those passions and their gifts and how they share their gifts with community, and it centers around the big point of purpose in our lives, and I can’t wait to continue amplifying Native voices. How you doing, Leah?
Leah Lemm: I’m doing just fine. Thank you. How are you doing great?
Cole Premo: Doing great. You know, I had to move Maria’s office from upstairs to downstairs, so now we’re next to each other in offices, kind of just right across the hall. Now I have to keep the downstairs bathroom clean. Wouldn’t you know it? Because she’s a normal human being who likes things actually clean, and I have to…anyhoo. So we’re getting used to that.
Leah Lemm: Are you a bit of a gremlin?
Cole Premo: A little bit of Gremlin. Yeah, yeah. Trying to get better, though, trying to get better.
Leah Lemm: Yeah, it’s easy to get out of hand with messiness. Oh, yeah.
Cole Premo: Don’t want to get too into detail, but yeah. But I wanted to ask about Marvin. You know, he had a pretty significant competition that he just went through, right?
Leah Lemm: Oh, yeah. He participated in archery nationals.
Cole Premo: Wow.
Leah Lemm: With the Grand Rapids team here. So that was pretty exciting. He went to Utah. He had a 20-hour bus ride out and another 20-hour bus ride back. He didn’t get much sleep, so he was a little grumpy, but he did pretty well, and so we’re just really proud of him. Little growing moment, time of growth.
Cole Premo: Very nice. That’s kind of like a sportsy thing, right? He’s into a bunch of sports, right?
Leah Lemm: A bunch.
Cole Premo: Here I am trying to tie in the episode with sports, you know.
Leah Lemm: I know I put this note here in the script, you know, maybe sports? We try. So I’m not particularly sporty. Daniel is and Marvin, I don’t know where he falls necessarily. He’s tried basketball, lacrosse, what else? Archery, obviously, but, yeah, I think he likes gym class. That’s kind of what I did.
Cole Premo: Very nice, very nice. Yeah, I mean, I chose, like jazz band and like being an extra on a musical over sports. So that goes to show how, how I dealt with sports back in the day. Yeah, but I did do some backyard football, that’s all right. And you played rugby in college. And, yeah, yep. So we got some connections there, all sporty. Well, good. I’m glad that he’s getting a taste of all these different sports. We also did some tennis back in the day. We did some tennis, yeah, respectable. Lot of biking, roller blading. Anyways, I could go on and on, very good, very good. Well, we bring it up because, of course, our guest today is big into sports. So today we are speaking with Dan Ninham. Dan is from the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, and is a freelance writer based in Red Lake. He is also a journalist who covers sports and runs the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. So we’ll get into a bunch of different topics here. Here he is. Boozhoo, Dan.
Dan Ninham: How’s it going?
Leah Lemm: Hello.
Cole Premo: All right, boozhoo, Dan, could you please start by introducing yourself, letting us know where you’re joining us from little background, all that good stuff?
Dan Ninham: [Speaks in Oneida.] I’m taught that I introduce myself in my own language. I share Greetings. I’m Dan Ninham is my English name, and I’m Oneida. I’m Wolf Clan. Oneida. Name is [name in Oneida], which is a descriptor of thawing time of season. I live in Red Lake with my Red Lake bride Susan and I’m currently on the road. I’ve been on the road for the last going on four years, almost weekly.
Cole Premo: We always like to ask, you know, how you’re doing? How’s the family doing?
Dan Ninham: Family is doing great. We’re growing. We have our sixth granddaughter in our family now going on seven weeks old and lives in Oklahoma with our daughter and her husband and two sisters, so three sisters and three granddaughters in Oklahoma. We also have a son and daughter-in-law, Byron and Amy, with our two other grandkids that live with them in Pierz, Minnesota, and we also have daughter Simone and granddaughter and grandsons that live in my home community, Oneida, Wisconsin.
Leah Lemm: Wonderful. Well, we like to kick off a conversation by asking our guests if there’s anything that you are thinking about or that’s kicking around.
Dan Ninham: I retired four years ago, June 1, as a physical education teacher with a PhD. I was there for about 30 years and the Oneida Tribal School for eight years prior to that. My Bride, I call her my bride, Susan, we’ve been married going on 43 years, end of August, and our first job when we first got married was at Wingate High School, the largest BIA boarding school in the country, in Fort Wingate, New Mexico, to southeast of Gallup, New Mexico. Susan and I were the first husband and wife to receive a Bush Fellowship at the same time in the year 2000. Susan’s ABD in special education. She received her administrator’s license and has been an administrator in a number of schools with the Ojibwe student demographic in North Central Minnesota.
She still works as in a sense I still work, too. Since I retired and unretired four years ago, I’ve been on the road, global traveler, in a sense, but only with my Honda CRV. I don’t fly, and I averaged 1500 miles away for the last four years. Been going to eight states. And I present Indigenous foods, Indigenous games. Go to school on the White Earth Reservation, and do our restorative circles weekly. And I also train others to continue with this passion of what I do with Indigenous games and foods.
Leah Lemm: Wonderful. Thank you. You do quite a few things. It looks like, I mean, on the road, retired. But what does that really mean? Let’s jump into things with an upcoming event. You have a banquet in early June for the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame. Can you tell me a bit about the Hall of Fame and what it does?
Dan Ninham: Susan and I started that four years ago. It’s been on our mind for a number of years. There’s the American Athletic Hall of Fame that was at Lawrence, Kansas. That’s more than a few decades old. And did some research on provincial Hall of Fames, on what the criteria would be to do one. And of course, did an internet search to find out if there is such a thing already and there wasn’t that comprised all of North America. I think in our website, it says 23 countries, but I think it’s more like 27. We thought about inducting the elite of the elite. If in the college level, they should be all American status, national champion status, Olympic caliber, professional. Not only as an athlete, but as a Coach and Trainer. A trainer could be a trainer of people or a trainer of horses. We have jockeys. Started, as I mentioned four years ago. We’re not a nonprofit, nor are we a for profit. But we have a number of advisors that also guide us on who should be and should not be inducted. Approximately 120 new inductees a year. Inductees, they can still currently be active in their field. And we have 80 inductees coming to the banquet June 7, from the USA and Canada, and 30 individuals and 50 from three different teams, Haudenosaunee nationals, women. We have two broom ball world medalist teams from Canada. When we started, it was just after COVID and we didn’t do a banquet. The second year, we did our banquet in Shakopee at Canterbury downs, and we had 45 inductees and 350 people in the audience. Last year we went to the Oneida Nation Hotel, and we had about 55 inductees and 450 people. So as I say we’re growing.
Cole Premo: You’re listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS, with support from Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Today we’re speaking with Dan Ninham, PhD. Dan is from the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, and is a freelance writer based in Red Lake. He’s a journalist who covers sports and runs the North American Indigenous Hall of Fame. I’m just curious. I’m looking through some of the inductees, and you guys had to go back and like, give honor to athletes who had championships back 20-30 years ago. How does that process go?
Dan Ninham: A stipulation is that for the older and posthumous induction is that the families, the immediate families, the descendants, they need to know that we’re going to induct them. We go back to Carlisle days. We’re going into high school days, I mean boarding school eras of elite competition. So we’re already in the 2026, perspectives, inductees that are coming up for the next banquet in Haudenosaunee country. We have so many lacrosse players, so many that should be recognized, that should be in there. At this time, we’re recognizing the ones that are here rather than ones that are not here. We have a nomination process. We’ve been receiving nominations, I would say, weekly. Just looking at our website, we have everybody that are inducted so far, and it’s immense. I mean, everybody has their own story. We have all the Indigenous gold, silver and bronze medalists at the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Summer and Winter Paralympics, as well. As I mentioned, I went back to the descendants. I went back and just the process of getting the image of Jim Thorpe to be approved. I mean, that takes a process. A recent inductee of Stockbridge-Munsee/Jimmie Johnson and having the university share that his bio is also supported and the images are also supported.
Leah Lemm: So the website is NAIAHF.org, for North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame. Do you know any of the inductees personally?
Dan Ninham: We have a grandfather who has passed on, Martin Wheelock. He was a Carlisle football athlete. He was All American. At the last banquet, we had a number of descendants there, and we’ll probably have some more at this banquet as well. We, as in Susan and I, we’ve had personal and professional relationships with a number of the inductees, Billy Mills for one. We featured a number of Iroquois nationals at the time, Haudenosaunee nationals. We featured men and women and coaches in Oneida, in Bemidji, Minnesota, and Red Lake Minnesota. Why they’re inducted into our Hall of Fame is that philosophy of I’m coming from the same place where you are, I can do it and you can do it. So that’s the encouragement.
Cole Premo: Awesome. So let’s get a bit into your background. Obviously, you are very passionate about sports and giving these individuals these honors. Could you talk about, like, what got you into this line of work, like, what makes you passionate for athletics?
Dan Ninham: I was a college basketball player. I played at the NCAA, D2 (Division II), D3 (Division III), and NJCAA level. Thinking of the transfer portal now–the only difference in me transferring, I had to sit out the first semester. And nowadays they don’t. They can play right away. I went to six schools in five states in five years. So I was a good enough student that everything transferred. I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s at Bemidji State University, PhD at University of Northern Colorado, and have been interested in Indigenous athletics for my whole career. I’ve implemented Indigenous games in my curriculum wherever I went. I’m always a lifelong learner, even though I have a terminal degree. I don’t believe in expertise. I believe in being a knowledge carrier. It’s always growing. I’m always finding out new things to do, new ways to connect. I go to schools. I have a network of teachers to encourage this, to continue whatever we do. Inuit games, I think of a connection with Inuit games. I use a seal skin ball that was gifted to us by Carol Pickett Hall, who was a 1990 traditional one-foot-high kick world record holder. And you think of having world records at the Inuit game level with the world Eskimo Indian Olympics, Native Youth Olympics, and other events that are held throughout that region, which is expansive and extensive. And her record was just broken recently. So after 35 years having a world record of jumping up in the air, hopping on a foot, hopping off that foot, jumping and keeping the other foot in the air and hitting a ball above your head and landing on that foot. I mean, you just think of that. It was at the Milwaukee Indian Summer Fest. It had to be around that time of when she was in her prime, so to speak. But she was doing a demonstration of the Inuit games, and that sparked my interest, and has been with me for the last four decades of my career. And my brother, Paul, he’s in Oneida with wife Jill. They are also Indigenous games instructors, as well as my wife Susan. And we’ve been doing the Inuit games for a long time. And my brother Paul and his wife Jill, they have even traveled to Alaska, and they took a contingent of Oneida, young athletes, student athletes, on a trip for, I don’t know, 10 days or two weeks a couple years ago. And you think of having that passion with that Indigenous movement. For them to do that and to have that continue with the younger generations. And that goes back to one of our traditions is to carry on by bringing in the younger generation and to nurture them and to keep it moving. I just think of the Inuit games, how we do the seal hop in my classes and our classes with other Indigenous instructors, making a connection to the Inuit seal hunter and their lifestyle and their world view, and making believe that they’re hunting the seal. You’d have to see it, and you’re welcome. You’re invited to come on the road with me anytime. I’ll be through Grand Rapids. I go to eight states, mainly Minnesota. I was at Spirit Lake Nation last week, Porton, North Dakota. I think of my brother Paul’s words. He talks about, doesn’t know how long he’s going to be doing this, but he knows he’s doing it now. So we’ll see.
Cole Premo: What position did you play in basketball?
Dan Ninham: I’m six-foot-ten. I’ll give you an idea of what position I was.
Leah Lemm: I don’t even know basketball, but I can guess.
Dan Ninham: And I contacted the coach, and they had a number of turnovers. I played at Northeastern Colorado College. I had a single game record of 26 rebounds in one game.
Cole Premo: Dang.
Dan Ninham: Nationally ranked leading rebounder west of the Mississippi and junior colleges in 1979. So 46 years I’ve held this record. So 26 rebounds in one game.
Cole Premo: Center, center. I googled the tallest. Shows you how much I know.
Leah Lemm: You’re listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Today we’re speaking with Dan Ninham, PhD. Dan is from the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, and is a freelance writer based in Red Lake. Dan’s a journalist who covers sports and runs the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.
Cole Premo: You’re on the road, but you still find time to write, to do freelance writing. You’re a journalist as well. Could you talk about how you cover sports and what stories you gravitate towards?
Dan Ninham: Towards the end of my career, seven years ago, I was very interested in NDNsports.com featuring Native athletes and coaches, and the editor is Brent Cahwee, and I asked him if I could write for him. And at the time he gave me, I think, the state of Minnesota. I’ve been a volunteer writer for NDNsports. I’ve done the majority of my writing for them. And I believe I’m probably up to about 600 stories in seven years with NDNsports. Dave Bice from the Twin Cities, areas of White Earth and Rolly [?]. He’s one of our supporters in the Hall of Fame, as well as other programs, and we couldn’t have done things without his support. But he encouraged me to write for the Circle News. The Circle News based out of Minneapolis. They had an opening for sports columnist for Native athlete feature of the month. So I put my name in the hat, and they gave me an opportunity, and I have been writing for them for probably seven years monthly, and got to a point where I had a lot of good readership, and they asked me to write another story a month on culture and language, based in Minnesota. I was encouraged to write for ICT, Indian Country Today, by Red Lake enrolled member Dalton Walker. So I applied for that and got accepted, and have written for probably two years with them, and I don’t know, roughly 600, stories for NDNsports as a volunteer. And all the other ones, I’m a compensated writer, freelance writer.
Cole Premo: Great. Is there a particular story assignment that has lived with you that you think back on? If you had to choose one, I know there’s probably many.
Dan Ninham: Well, I figured I’ve written about 800 stories in the last seven years. I realize I’m a biographer. To share the story. It’s kind of, it’s rewarding to. And I just shared this with somebody today that it’s, uh, it’s like a trophy for the subject. Wow. You know? I’m featured in this publication. That’s pretty cool.
I think of Indian Country Today allowing me to write my interest areas. And a former editor of mine was Dianna Hunt, and she believed in me. It was just so cool and encouraged me to expand. And she liked what I did with the different topic areas. Anywhere from the Indigenous gardening of the Southwest to the kick stick runners of the Hamas Pueblo, and using artwork related to that. Being in a research mode and finding people, I find people, people that have influenced the subject. The other interesting aspect is that out of the 800 or so stories I’ve published, only two have been by phone interview. I send questionnaires out, and that’s kind of another unorthodox way to do it. But no one has said anything except University of Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson. He said, “I’m not going to do a questionnaire. You got to call me. You know, if you want a story, you got to call me.” So I called him, and we’ve been personal friends of coach Kelvin. He’s an inductee as well as his son, Kellen, who’s an assistant coach for him. They’re both Lumbee, and they’re both inductees in the Hall of Fame. We’ve been at University of Houston games. This past winter, I was coming back from Anadarko, Oklahoma, and I noticed University of Houston was playing at Kansas State, at Manhattan, Kansas. And I thought, Oh, I’m going to be there just in time. So I text him, and he gave me a seat right behind the bench. That was pretty cool. That was an awesome time. I guess it’s a challenge to say what your favorite is. I like different genres, the different genres of Indigenous foods, Indigenous chefs. It goes down the line of interest areas, anywhere from the Dakota elm bark houses. That’s pretty cool. And I just submitted a story to the Circle News for Bemidji high school athlete. I strive be the best I can be, just like the students I work with and the teachers.
Cole Premo: Great. Thank you so much. We always like to round out our conversations by asking if you have any final thoughts, things you want to add as we say Gigawaabamin in a minute here.
Dan Ninham: I think of other areas. Even the Three Sisters Garden Project, the gardening technique, the three sisters and how they’re planted in such a way to be stable and to nurture each other, and they’re in their growth. I mean, that could be another metaphor for even the sport athlete. Oh, there’s so much support that is ingrained.
I think of family support. Coaching support. You think of, you know, kind of another metaphor, the pow wow. What’s happening in the middle, you know where the drums are, and the dancers and spectators around the next circle and then the outlying area and thinking of the circle. It’s all connected.
And always being prepared, being prepared as an athlete, as your children are. Athletes, they have to be prepared. Me as a writer I have to be prepared. Me as a teacher, I have to be prepared. Teaching and Learning is evolving. You have to be ready to act.
I don’t know if that’s answering your question at all, but the athletes, they got to be ready. I think of transition time from activity to activity. I expect the students to run to the next activity. It’s not a punishment. It’s just that’s a directive that we encourage people to move. Mamaajii [?] in Ojibwe languages, he or she moves. You tell one person to move, mamaajii [?]. You tell everybody to move, mamaajiid [?]. Let’s all move mamaajiid [?]. Nindizha-anishinaabemo [?], I speak a little bit Ojibwe. Or [speaking in Oneida], I’m Oneida. And I want to be able to speak in the classroom environments. I’d like to be able to speak the language in the full class and I encourage that language use to share that the Ojibwe people and language are significant, so that’s why I speak as I do.
Leah Lemm: Dan Ninham, PhD.
Cole Premo: Moving forward, yeah, moving forward. I like that. I like that. I just love that philosophy of honoring accomplished individuals, you know, not just the athletes, but, you know, coaches, leaders.
Leah Lemm: Oh, they even had sports writers in their too.
Cole Premo: There you go.
Leah Lemm: Heck, yeah.
Cole Premo: So chi miigwetch to Dan Ninham, PhD. Dan is from the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, and is a freelance writer based in Red Lake. He’s also a journalist who covers sports and runs the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame. I’m your host, Cole Premo/
Leah Lemm: And I’m Leah Lemm. Miigwetch for listening. Gigawaabamin.
Cole Premo: Gigawaabamin.
Leah Lemm: You’re listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
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