By Sadhbh O'Shea.

When the now 27-year-old made his Tour de France debut in 2020, he was the first Native North American to ride the race. This year, Powless, his sister Shanya, and his father Jack were all inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.

Powless is proud to represent the United States of America when he's racing around the world, whether it be in the colors of his EF Education-EasyPost squad or the stars and stripes of the national team, but that Native North American connection adds an extra element to that pride.

"It gives me my identity, it gives me my foundation, and it makes me even more proud to represent America on a big scale and represent the Oneida Nation and provide inspiration maybe to a group of people who didn't have so many role models on this level of sport to draw from," Powless told Velo.

"It's something really unique and really special, and something to be incredibly proud of. Not only that you are a part of this incredible heritage, but that your lineage was able to survive everything and make it to where you are today.

"You should want to make those people proud and if you can make all those people feel more connected, then I think it could only help to further the aspirations and the unity of tribes moving forward.

Powless is part of the Oneida nation through his father Jack. The Oneida now has four, federally recognized, nations in New York, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada.

With his job keeping him on the road for most of the year, Powless doesn't get too many chances to connect with his heritage in person.

When he does, it's about embracing it to the fullest and taking that connection with him on the road.

He's been trying to learn more about the history of the Oneida and had his father send some books over to Europe during the season, though they ultimately ended up getting lost in the mail.

"I was always told to embrace it, try to be involved with it, and enjoy it when you do get the opportunity to be immersed in it," he said. "Just get everything out of it when you can when you're immersed in it at a powwow or just back visiting family and try to reconnect and be in it as much as you can.

"The books my dad mailed me were lost in the mail coming to France, so I haven't received them yet. But I know some general stuff like they're a tribe from New York State, they relocated to Wisconsin, and have been in the process of trying to get some land back in New York, it's kind of an uphill battle.

"It is kind of crazy, all the way from the untouched history of the tribe when they were not being influenced by European culture, how connected all the different nations were.

"Funnily enough, my sister's fiancé is Canadian but the tribe that he's a member of was like a sister tribe to our tribe, and they would actually meet up and have powwows together sometimes. That was going back hundreds and hundreds of years. It's pretty wild. They didn't realize that until a couple of years after they met."

Down the generations

One of Powless' big goals is to get himself a Haudenosaunee passport, a document issued by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. However, Powless will have to visit in person to get one so it will take some planning to work it out with his racing schedule.

Since the passport was first issued by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in 1923, it has long struggled to get it recognized as an official document that holders can travel on. Several countries have listed it as a "fantasy passport" and only a small number have accepted it, including Japan and Ireland.

While the Haudenosaunee Confederacy continues to try and get wider recognition for the passport, Powless sees it as a key part of his connection with the Oneida and the wider Native North American community.

"It's definitely pretty important. I've been talking to my dad about it all year, trying to figure out when we'd be able to do that. Hopefully, in the next year or two I'll end up with one," he said. "I know Ireland is one of the only European nations right now that recognizes the Haudenosaunee passport, which is issued by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Oneida is a member of that Confederacy.

"I don't have one because I need to go back to the reservation and be there in person to apply for one. But I know that was pretty historic and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is really trying to do its best to formalize its independence in modern times. With that, they're trying to develop their own passport and they've done so but I guess it doesn't meet global standards for some countries, but in Ireland, they recognize it."

For Powless, his father has been a rich source of information and the strongest link to his Oneida heritage. He hopes that this will continue as the next generation of Powlesses looks to learn about their history.

Powless became a father for the first time in September after his wife Frances gave birth to a baby girl, Charlotte. He's looking forward to, with the help of his dad, passing on what he has learned about his history.

"My dad is probably going to have a pretty key role in that. He's good on a Native American flute, he's studied the language a bit and knows the history really well. I think having him involved in my kid's life is going to really help to solidify it," Powless said. "Every further generation, it might make you feel like you're getting further from it, but I think everyone in the globe is moving in that direction anyway.

"The world is so international, and people are traveling so much and moving so much. One day, it might be just impossible to even know where you're from. So, think it's really important that, no matter how far down the line goes, you can always trace it back to Oneida Nation and the Powlesses that were in America before Columbus or before any European showed up in America.

"You can trace that Powless name back pretty darn far. It's something that I'll have to do my best to make sure my kids understand."

Reprinted with permission from VELO.