For young Native Americans, running is a lesson in their own history
A plume of dust trails his worn sneakers as he strides over the red sand.
Most runners would find this surface trying: a sinking, winding path, made narrow by low desert brush. But not Dustin Martin. He glides over the sand – seemingly without sinking at all – as if he and the Earth made a deal long ago.
Mr. Martin, a Navajo from Gallup, N.M., is executive director of Wings of America, a nonprofit based in Santa Fe, N.M. It encourages Native American youth to embrace running, both as a cultural tradition and as a personal hobby, while simultaneously helping to dispel negative stereotypes associated with their peoples.
“Everyone else in Indian country, unfortunately, for the last 30 years, has had to build a program
The example of Jim Thorpe Sending a message in a run