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- By Native StoryLab
What happens when the people who changed Indian Country risk being forgotten?
That question sits at the heart of the National Native American Hall of Fame — an institution built not around celebrity, but around visibility, legacy, and responsibility.
In this episode of Native Bidaské, co-hosts Levi Rickert and Chance Rush sit down with President Francis Alvarez and Chief Executive Officer James Parker Shields to explore why preserving Native achievement isn’t optional — it’s urgent.
Because visibility has always been an issue, the Hall of Fame was created to address it.
It recognizes leaders across 16 categories — not just household names like Billy Mills, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and Joy Harjo — but also the boots-on-the-ground community leaders whose contributions may never trend online, yet shape nations.
on Friday, Feb 20th, 2026
12:00 pm ET / 11:00 am CT / 10:00 am MT / 9:00 am PT
And that distinction matters.
Because this isn’t about fame. It’s about preservation.
The Hall now operates from a permanent facility in Oklahoma City — a space designed not just as a museum, but as a gathering place. A place where youth can walk through exhibits and see someone who looks like them. Someone who shares their tribal identity. Someone who proves that possibility is real.
That’s where the deeper impact begins.
The Hall of Fame’s K–12 curriculum doesn’t replace textbooks — it expands them. It adds Native voice, Native context, Native excellence. For young people navigating identity in a world that often misunderstands them, representation becomes more than symbolic. It becomes stabilizing.
It becomes legacy in motion.
It’s the question the Hall asks all of us:
Who are we choosing to remember?
And what happens if we don’t?
Watch the full episode of Native Bidaské airing February 20th at 12 PM ET on Facebook, YouTube, and NativeNewsOnline.net.
Watch past Native Bidaské episodes here.
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Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher