How a Shoe Launch Led Me to Mohawk Ironworkers and Missing Women

Well, we’re going down the rabbit hole this week, led there not by the white rabbit of Alice’s Wonderland, but by a trickster rabbit of Native American lore.

Tricksters play an important role in Native mythology, culture, and society.  The rabbit trickster represents the  triumph of the underdog over adversity and the power of wit to overcome strength.  It relays moral lessons, sparks critical thinking, and confronts established norms.

Today’s rabbit hole was sparked by a LinkedIn post, and from there – led, I think, by rabbit trickster – I hopped from thought to thought, link to link, into a web of wonder and all of it connected by a theme of indigenous peoples, underdogs, and moral lessons.

That LinkedIn post came from Trina Finley Ponce, who is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and works for Boise Cascade Company, and it extolled Nike’s new N7 Dunks shoe. Knowing of the long history and passion for basketball the Native community, I asked her what specifically about the shoes resonated with the Indigenous identity.  Here was her response:

“Thank you for being curious and asking the question! It’s the full N7 program - designs/artwork/imagery, brand management, marketing, modeling, ambassadorship done by world-class Native professionals who know and understand our community; partnerships with and investments in Native communities; cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation; etc. All of the things that say ‘I see and value you.’

“Regarding designs, examples are in the new N7 shoe collection. The N7 Moc resembles moccasins in look and feel but with a contemporary flair. The N7 Dunks have the medicine wheel logo, and who doesn’t want a pair of Dunks ;).”

Well, now, that’s pretty cool.  Something new and interesting to me.  And perhaps to you as well? 

That exchange with Tina sparked me to think about one of the most amazing Native American athletes I’ve ever seen, a dancer, or more specifically, a hoop dancer.  Nakota LaRance was a member of the Hopi Tribe and died at a young age in an accident.  LaRance, who also performed with Cirque du Soleil, attributed his dance inspiration to movements of the world, ranging from hip hop to martial arts.  If you want to see an amazing combination of athleticism and artistry, otherworldly to me, you should take a moment – really – and check out his performance at the 2016 Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance. 

I’m certain Nakota is dancing in the otherworld.

From Nakota’s dancing I was transported to another world of sky dancers, this time that of the legendary Mohawk Skywalkers, which are getting a small amount of overdue attention.

The unfortunate part of this notoriety is that it comes because of Stephen Miller’s rant that only real Americans built the Empire State Building – claiming that no illegal immigrants were involved in its construction – just real Americans.

(Miller is White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a United States Homeland Security advisor.)

The long and short of it is that Mohawk ironworkers from the Canadian province of Quebec, highly regarded for their high-steel construction skills, were indeed involved in the construction of the Empire State Building, displaying their riveting talent as each ascending level of steel framework was constructed.

They have also been involved in construction of many of New York City’s skyscrapers, including among others the Time Warner Building, Rockefeller Center, and the original World Trade Center towers.

You can read more about their history, which includes some beautiful historical photos (some of which will make you pucker) in this fascinating article by Amelia Mavis Christnot.

From here, the rabbit hole wound its way to Vancouver, B.C, and to my friend Michelle Reid. 

I’ve never met Michelle in person, though I call her friend as she and I have been involved with the B Corp community for many years and have had many interactions online.  (Some of my best friends are B Corp leaders I’ve never met in the flesh.)  Michelle is a true champion of B Corps, having worked for nearly five years as a community engagement and activation lead for B Lab, the nonprofit that oversees B Corp certification.  Michelle, an Ojibwe, now plies her talents as Manager, Indigenous Reconciliation, for BDC – the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs.  (Great tagline.)  Much respect to you, Michelle!

Lastly, the rabbit hole ended up back in Boise for me, full circle where it started:  with athletics.  Rosalie Fish was an NCAA track and field athlete and an indigenous activist for the causes of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) and LGBTQ rights. 

Rosalie, a member of the Cowlitz tribe, gained prominence a few years ago when she began painting her face with a red handprint, the symbol representing MMIW, for her high school track races to draw attention to this cause.  (Did you know about the MMIW crisis?  Exactly!) 

We honored Rosalie’s youthful activism by painting her mural with the pantheon of social and environmental justice champions that are here in Boise at our Inspiration Alley public art installation.  Rosalie, we’d like to note, was originally inspired by Jordan Marie Daniel, who painted her face for a run in the 2019 Boston Marathon.

So, poking my head back up from the rabbit hole, thinking I’m grateful for rabbit trickster’s trailblazing today.  After all, why pigeonhole our posts to Native American Heritage Month?

And wondering:  What rabbit holes have you been going down lately?

Godspeed, friends.

Russ

P.S. Nature called – and I answered. Actually, my daughter called and invited me on a river trip (she's a guide), so I'll be hopping on a raft in a couple of days to float the Middle Fork of the Salmon and I'll miss publishing an issue next Tuesday, September 2. See you downstream!

🏀 The Poetry of Basketball

Always trying to share my love of poetry and found the perfect poem to keep the theme going today:

Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good At Basketball

by Natalie Diaz, Mojave/Pima

1. The same reason we are good in bed.

2. Because a long time ago, Creator gave us a choice: You can write like an Indian god, or you can have a jump shot sweeter than a 44-ounce can of commodity grape juice—one or the other. Everyone but Sherman Alexie chose the jump shot.

3. We know how to block shots, how to stuff them down your throat, because when you say, “Shoot,” we hear howitzer and Hotchkiss and Springfield Model 1873.

4. When Indian ballers sweat, we emit a perfume of tortillas and Pine Sol floor cleaner that works like a potion to disorient our opponents and make them forget their plays.

5. We grew up knowing that there is no difference between a basketball court and church. Really, the Nazarene’s hold church in the tribal gym on Sunday afternoons—the choir belts out “In the Sweet By and By” from the low block.

6. When Walt Whitman wrote, The half-breed straps on his light boots to compete in the race, he really meant that all Indian men over age 40 have a pair of vintage Air Jordan’s in their closets and believe they are still magic-enough to make even the largest commod bod able to go coast to coast and finish a layup.

7. Indians are not afraid to try sky hooks in real games, even though no Indian has ever made a sky hook, no Indian from a federally recognized tribe, anyway. But still, our shamelessness to attempt sky hooks in warm-ups strikes fear in our opponents, thus giving us a mental edge.

8. On the court is the one place we will never be hungry—that net is an emptiness we can fill up all day long.

9. We pretend we are playing every game for a Pendleton blanket, and the MVP gets a Mashantucket Pequot-sized per capita check.

10. Really, though, all Indians are good at basketball because a basketball has never been just a basketball—it has always been a full moon in this terminal darkness, the one taillight in Jimmy Jack Tall Can’s gray Granada cutting along the back dirt roads on a beer run, the Creator’s heart that Coyote stole from the funeral pyre cursing him to walk alone through every coral dusk. It has always been a fat gourd we sing to, the left breast of a Mojave woman three Budweisers into Saturday night. It will always be a slick, bright bullet we can sling from the 3-point arc with 5 seconds left on a clock in the year 1492, and as it rips down through the net, our enemies will fall to their wounded knees, with torn ACLs.

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