Red Runners honor 80 mile journey of their ancestors
Red Runners at the 25 mile mark of the run on Friday, August 16.
By ROSELYNN YAZZIE
Sho-Ban News
TENDOY — The Red Runners honored the journey of their ancestors by completing an 80 mile run/walk on Friday, August 16.
Clyde Dixey offered a prayer before the run began at Tendoy School and smudged participants.
Fort Hall Fire & EMS employees warned runners of possible rattle snakes in the area and cautioned everyone to be careful of the dangers. Kermit and Annie Bacon encouraged participants to be safe and be aware of the road ahead of them — they coordinated the Red Runners group.
It began with everyone walking the first mile together; from there they took turns relaying the miles. The Red Runners group was made up of participants of all ages and many families were also represented.
Tribal elder Eddy Nappo was the first to walk with the smudge stick, which was put together by Kermit Bacon to bless the journey. Nappo passed the stick after the first mile to Fort Hall Business Council secretary Donna Thompson. The route followed 80 miles through various terrains to Lima, Mont.
Eddy Nappo leads the Red Runners with the smudge stick.
Clyde Dixey explained how when the settlers found gold and silver on the land they rounded up all the Indians and took them out of their camps and homes and marched them through the area to Lima. That’s where they were rounded up and shipped to Fort Hall by train with nothing.
“It was tough on those people a long time ago, they had nothing when they left here and they had nothing when they ended up in Fort Hall,” he said.
He talked about his grandmother, Minnie Burton, who was sent to school in Fort Shaw, Mont. and ended up being a world championship basketball player at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904.
Eddy Nappo talked about when he was a little kid and how he would run with the Ariwites who also lived in the area. In those days there was no running water. They lived in a camp area and their house was made of canvas with a wood-burning stove they used to cook on. He reminisced about the people and his experiences there growing up. He said the road they were running on was the main road in those days, before they built the highway.
From left, Bev Wadsworth, Patti Crow, Donna Thompson and Sandra Damon lead the
second mile.
Many of the participants had relatives from the area and return year after year to honor them. Bev Wadsworth said her parents, the late Joe and Lucy Diaz, used to attend the event and her mother would take flowers to the Chief Tendoy monument.
The run was completed around 11 p.m. Participants rested for the night and many joined the 12 mile walk to Lemhi Pass the next day.
A welcome dinner was served at the Sacajawea Center in the evening for participants coming to take part in the annual Agai Deka Gathering on Saturday. The Red Runners were honored during the powwow exhibition dancing with an honor song.
Red Runners on the 80 mile journey.
