RHINELANDER, WI (WSAU-WXPR) – Wisconsin Tribal Athletes earned 56 medals at the North American Indigenous Games.
That placed them 7th out of the 23 states and provinces at the games.
The Olympic-style event is held every four years with 13 different sporting events.
16-year-old Tristan Rainey is a Lac du Flambeau Tribal Member who made the Wisconsin Baseball Team. “The connection we built as a team, I can’t even put it into words. It’s been really amazing getting to know these guys. I feel like they’re my brothers right now. I’ve never played for a team like this. I really love them. The chemistry that we’ve got right now. I think it’s the best we’ve had.” Team Wisconsin took silver in baseball.
Rainey calls the games and the practices leading up to them a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He hopes for the next games more Lac du Flambeau Tribal members will try out for Team Wisconsin. “The more we do that, the more we put our Tribe out there the more we put the names of Natives in our tribe out there as well.”
Lac du Flambeau had 14 tribal members competing.
Team Wisconsin was made up of nearly 250 athletes from the 11 federally recognized tribes in the state. It’s the largest U.S. team at the games.
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