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John Spence assists a rider with the stirrups on a saddle during a demonstration of Native equine therapy at powwow grounds in the Grand Ronde Valley. (Elyse Wild/Native News Online)
BEAVERTON, Ore. — On a hot July morning, Dr. John Spence stands outside of an equestrian training arena, watching a 15-year-old boy lead a caramel-colored horse around an obstacle course marked by bright orange cones.
Spence, a citizen of the Gros Ventre tribe and tribal consultant for the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest, or NARA NW, is lean and strong at 83 years old. He wears sunglasses, a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and a black T-shirt that reads, “I am worthy.”
The horse swishes its coarse black tail as it walks gently behind the teenager, who is wearing an oversized white hoodie despite the triple-digit heat. Half a dozen other teenage boys stand in the arena, waiting their turn. Some shuffle their feet, their hands shoved in their pockets. A 16-year-old wearing long basketball shorts, a wide-brimmed baseball hat over his dark curls, and tattoos on his forearms calls out, “Nice job, man.”
Spence leans forward, his smile widening.
“Look at that,” Spence says quietly. “The horse won’t…
While the boys work with the horses, Dr. John Spence, an elder and consultant to NARA NW, tells them, “You’re getting in tune with another spirit.” (Elyse Wild/Native News Online)
BEAVERTON — On a hot July morning in Beaverton, Oregon, Dr. John Spence stands outside of an equestrian training arena, watching a 15-year-old boy lead a caramel-colored horse around an obstacle course marked by bright orange cones.
Spence, a citizen of the Gros Ventre tribe and tribal consultant for the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest, or NARA NW, is lean and strong at 83 years old. He wears sunglasses, a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and a black T-shirt that reads, “I am worthy.”
The horse swishes its coarse black tail as it walks gently behind the teenager, who is wearing an oversized white hoodie despite the triple-digit heat. Half a dozen other teenage boys stand in the arena, waiting their turn. Some shuffle their feet, their hands shoved in their pockets. A 16-year-old wearing long basketball shorts, a wide-brimmed baseball hat over his dark curls, and tattoos on his forearms calls out, “Nice job, man.”
Spence leans forward, his smile widening.
“Look at that,” Spence says quietly. “The…
At this year’s 39th annual Reservation Economic Summit (RES), put on by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED), former Nike executive Sam McCracken announced a new Native-led non-profit aiming to advance mental, physical and cultural wellness for Indigenous youth across Indian Country. The program is named after its founder and board chair, the Sam McCracken Youth Project (the Youth Project/SMCYP).
“After over 28 years of service in Nike, in creating the line that changed the trajectory of Native people, Nike N7, Sam McCracken realized he is not done. He is just getting started,” Nikki Santos, Chief Executive Officer, Sam McCracken Youth Project, told Underscore Native News.
The Youth Project was created to bring together culture, community and athletics to help Native youth build relationships within tribal communities across Indian Country, with the overall goal to address urgent mental, physical and cultural health needs.
“Native youth are our foundation,” McCracken, a citizen of the Fort Peck Sioux, said. “I created SMCYP to build the kinds of experiences that remind young people of the power in positive representation, strength in their culture and the ability to play.”
Over its first five years, the Youth Program’s goal is to…