10/10/2025
Leadership and Legacy
INFR President Bo Vocu, a 17-time INFR bull riding qualifier, continues to grow opportunities for Native youth and build stronger ties between the INFR and ProRodeo.
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Native Athletes Set to Shine at the 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR), December 4–13, 2025, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, will again spotlight Native athletes:
• Derrick Begay (Navajo Nation) — 11-time qualifier and 2023 NFR Average Champion in team roping with Colter Todd — enters ranked second in the world.
• Bailey Bates (Navajo) will make her WNFR debut in breakaway roping.
• Zach Dallas (Oglala Lakota) returns in saddle bronc riding.
• Jayco Roper (Cherokee Nation) qualifies for his second WNFR in ba****ck riding.
INFR champions Jayco Roper (Cherokee Nation, 2023) and Jacob Lees (Tlingit, 2024) each won WNFR rounds on Virgil, C5 Rodeo’s legendary bucking horse, highlighting the excellence of Native-owned stock.
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Generations of Native Excellence
Native rodeo stars span generations:
• Jackson Sundown (Nez Perce) — 1916 World Champion saddle bronc rider at age 53.
• Pete Fredericks (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara) — original NFR qualifier and INFR founder.
• Randy Taylor (Cherokee) — first cowboy to nod at the WNFR in Las Vegas (1985), now a PRCA announcer and longtime INFR announcer.
• Marty Jandreau (Lower Brule Lakota) — WNFR round winner and Wrangler ProOfficial at both the WNFR and INFR.
• Tom Reeves (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) — 2001 World Champion saddle bronc rider.
• Aaron Tsinigine (Navajo Nation) and Erich Rogers (Navajo Nation) — World Champion team ropers in 2015 and 2017.
• Kenny McLean (Okanagan First Nations, British Columbia) — 1962 World Champion saddle bronc rider, remembered as one of the greatest Canadian cowboys of all time.
• Clem McSpadden (Cherokee) — U.S. Congressman, NFR leader, and INFR general manager.
• Names like Jay Harwood (Blackfeet, NFR announcer), Gerald and Leo Camarillo (team ropers from California), Howard Hunter and Merle Temple (saddle and ba****ck bronc riders), and many others further reflect the broad influence of Indian Country on professional rodeo across generations.
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Native-Owned Stock Companies
Elite livestock from Native-owned contractors are featured at both the INFR and WNFR, including:
C5 Rodeo Company (First Nations of Canada), Five Star Rodeo (Seminole Tribe of Florida), New West Rodeo Company (Blackfeet), Rafter H Rodeo Company (Cherokee Nation), and Muddy Creek ProRodeo (Oglala Lakota).
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Looking Ahead
As the PRCA, WPRA, and INFR deepen collaboration, the future is clear: more opportunity, stronger representation, and continued Native excellence on ProRodeo’s biggest stages.
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About the Organizations
PRCA: The world’s largest rodeo-sanctioning body, showcasing the top athletes and stock.
INFR: The premier championship for Native American and First Nations rodeo athletes.
WPRA: Founded in 1948, the oldest women’s sports organization in the U.S.
