Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools, Elite Marathon Runners
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Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools, Elite Marathon Runners

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

  • Apr 28, 2016 9:00 pm

TOP OF MIND REWIND: These interviews originally aired on February 26, 2016. LISTEN HERE. Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools Guests: John Howe, Director of the documentary “Unspoken”; Davina Spotted Elk, Member of the Navajo Nation, American Indian Education Coordinator for the Salt Lake City School District At the height of America’s westward expansion, one US official stated his perspective towards American Indians this way: “Kill the native, save the man.” Tribes were forced onto reservations and into boarding schools designed to train up a generation Indians that would fit into white culture. The result? One member of the Sioux tribe, Ron His Horse Is Thunder, described it this way: “They’ve stripped our language away by sending us to boarding to schools. . . our culture, our way of thinking about spirituality. . .  You cannot imagine the damage they have done to our culture by sending our kids to boarding schools.”  He is one of the many voices featured in a new documentary by John Howe of KUED public television. The film, “Unspoken,” aired recently in Utah and traces the history and legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools, including the conflicted relationship tribes have had with the system in recent decades as they have gained control over the schools. Davina Spotted Elk discusses her childhood experience attending one of these boarding schools and her current work with Native Americans in the education system today. Elite Running Guests: Jared Ward, Olympic Marathoner; Ed Eyestone, Two-Time Olympian, BYU Track and Field Head Coach, BYU Cross-Country Head Coach Here are three sets of numbers for you: 2 hours, 13 minutes. 26.2 miles. And 2 and a half. Two hours and 13 minutes is the time it took BYU graduate Jared Ward to run 26.2 miles in the Los Angeles Marathon on February 13 and qualify for the US Olympic team competing in Rio this summer. Two and a half is the number of years Jared Ward has been running marathons. It’s a remarkable rise to elite competition for the 27-year-old father of two. Here’s another interesting thing: Ward has a master’s degree in statistics and teaches BYU classes on the subject. His master’s thesis, by the way, looked at pacing strategies to win a marathon. Ward and BYU track coach Ed Eyestone discuss with us the mechanics of winning a marathon.