On the playing fields and hardwood floors across the country, Native American athletes who are excelling in sports are illustrating the possibility of higher education to Native communities.
“Sport can be a catalyst to drive many positive things in communities across the U.S. and Canada,” says Sam McCracken, chairman of the Nike N7 Fund, which brings sports to Native American and Aboriginal communities in the United States and Canada.
“Our athletes exemplify that positiveness of what sport can do,” says McCracken, a member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribe. “That’s where our ambassadors can play a uniquely positive role in inspiring kids to achieve things they didn’t believe they could.”
One such player is making a name for herself as a Native American athlete. Over the summer, basketball player Jude Schimmel, who is now in her fourth year at the University of Louisville, had more than a dozen speaking engagements with Native American tribes around the United States.
Jude’s story, and that of her older sister, Shoni, were documented in the 2011 film Off the Rez, which depicted their parents’ decision to move the family off the Umatilla Indian Reservation in eastern Oregon to Portland so the girls could attend a public high school and have greater exposure to college scouts.
“The fact that I was able to make it off the [reservation] and go to college and get an education … by setting that example, leading by example, I feel like that’s inspiration,” says Jude, who completed her bachelor’s degree in three years and is pursuing a master’s degree this year.
“People ask me all the time, ‘What does it take to get where you are?’ I take the time to try and explain to them and help them to the best of my ability.”
