Billy Mills: Indian kids need Indian role models
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero Billy Mills, the 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist, gave a presentation to the participants of the Navajo Nation Youth & Elderly Summit at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona on Tuesday.
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Billy Mills, the 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist, gave a presentation to the participants of the Navajo Nation Youth & Elderly Summit at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona on Tuesday.
TSAILE, Ariz.
Billy Mills, 1964 10K Olympic Gold Medalist, said he has traveled the world many times during his lifetime.
Mills said American Indian kids do need American Indian role models.
“Some American Indian kids living on the reservations do not want to leave the reservation,” said Mills, who was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. “Some say it’s difficult to leave the reservation. Some American Indian kids leave the reservation to go to school and they return to the reservation. They need an American Indian role model. They can live in two worlds.”
Mills said there are others who can’t wait to leave the reservation after graduating from high school.
“In my speeches across the country, I encourage American Indian kids to leave the reservation, seeking an education,” he said. “They have role models, someone they can look up to. I’ve visited many countries across the world. I learn something new when I travel. We have identity. We have culture. As American Indians, our language is different. That is unique.”
Mills is a role model and speaks as an advocate for young American Indians. He speaks nationally as a spokesman for Running Strong for American Indian Youth. The program helps communities with self-sufficiency programs, youth activities and cultural identity.
Mills addressed the participants attending the Navajo Nation Youth & Elderly Summit at Diné College in Tsaile on Tuesday morning.
Mills said a close friend of his, George Young, former 4-time Olympian, is having health problems.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow