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VIRTUAL 5K, 10K & HALF MARATHON
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATE!
Upload your times & photos March 4 - 12
How we connect with the lands is incredibly important as runners, athletes and lovers of nature and the outdoors. How we treat the lands is inherently connected to how we treat each other as people and communities - it's a reflection. However, we can change that. Through this virtual run and our initiative, we are hoping to bring a new perspective to non- Indigenous people of who first cared (and care) for the lands, of how we run with lands, how we can protect them, and see the lands as a living entity. When we can disconnect from the everyday and truly appreciate the soils we see, smells we smell, what we hear and feel in the outdoors, we can foster a deeper connection and relationship with the lands. To be in kinship with the lands, is to be in kinship with each other. So go run, walk, bike, swim, and move with the lands - appreciate this opportunity and let it connect with you.
-Jordan Marie Daniel (Rising Hearts)
BENEFITS
5K RUN/WALK
Funds raised will go to Native Women Running
Native women are resilient and strong! And we heal and grow by sharing our stories of triumph with each other. NWR has become a place of community, inspiration, motivation, and visibility.
“I started Native Women Running (NWR) out of frustration. One day, I was scrolling through Instagram and noticed a lack of Native women runners. When I realized many runners don't look like me, I decided to start NWR. My desire is for representation of native women runners in the running world. My hope is for native women to find belonging here. I hope NWR can be a place of positivity and encouragement for fellow sisters.” —Verna Volker, founder of NWR
10K RUN/WALK
Funds raised will go to Rising Hearts
Rising Hearts is an Indigenous led grassroots organization committed to the heart work in elevating Indigenous voices, promoting and supporting intersectional collaborative efforts across all movements with the goals of racial, social, climate, and economic justice. Our primary focuses are to inform, elevate, mobilize, and organize through strategic and targeted advocacy, establishing collaborative partnerships to help create a better and safer future and environment for all of our relatives who inhabit this planet, past, present and future.
Funds from this virtual run will help support the Running on Native Lands Initiative, Indigenous Wellness through Movement Series, Advocacy and community organizing efforts for 2021, delivering masks and supplies to relatives and communities in need until everyone is safe and no longer in a pandemic, Running with Purpose community club team and planning for collaborative events in May 2021 for National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and relatives. 
HALF MARATHON & TRIFECTA
Funds raised will go to Native Land Digital
Native Land Digital strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations, through educational resources such as our map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide. We strive to go beyond old ways of talking about Indigenous people and to develop a platform where Indigenous communities can represent themselves and their histories on their own terms. In doing so, Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together.
The Importance of Land
Land is something sacred to all of us, whether we consciously appreciate it or not — it is the space upon which we play, live, eat, find love, and experience life. The land is ever-changing and ever-shifting, giving us — and other creatures and beings on the earth — an infinite number of gifts and lessons.
For Native Land Digital, what we are mapping is more than just a flat picture. The land itself is sacred, and it is not easy to draw lines that divide it up into chunks that delineate who “owns” different parts of land. In reality, we know that the land is not something to be exploited and “owned”, but something to be honoured and treasured. However, because of the complexities of history, the kind of mapping we undertake is an important exercise, insofar as it brings an awareness of the real lived history of Indigenous peoples and nations in a long era of colonialism.
We aim to improve the relationship of people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, with the land around them and with the real history and sacredness of that land. This involves acknowledging and righting the wrongs of history, and also involves a personal journey through the importance of connecting with the earth, its creatures, and its teachings.
Thus, while we make a strong effort to teach about colonialism and to bring forth Indigenous narratives, we also strive to integrate what is sometimes called an “Indigenous way of knowing” when it comes to the importance and sacredness of land in our daily lives. We hope to inspire people to gain a better understanding of themselves, their ancestors, and the world they live in, so that we can all move forward into a better future.
EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION
There are 574 federally recognized Sovereign Nations (Tribes, Nations, Bands, Pueblos, communities and Villages) and roughly 66 State recognized Nations that all have their own form of governance, but please remember, our existence, is in our blood and doesn’t conform to the colonial constructs that gives us our identity. Due to genocide, so many of our relatives were taken – once thriving on these sacred lands, now we are among the minority and often, invisible, and erased. But that is changing as so many Indigenous folx are emerging with their voice, presence and heart, doing the heart work to create a better future for our next generations.
The Running on Native Lands Initiative is a Rising Hearts program that aims to bring visibility of land acknowledgements and more at trail AND road race events (but can also be adapted to within the work space, events, and more) by going the extra mile in giving back to the communities. It doesn't end with just a land acknowledgement. With a partnership, we want to help the many, rethink how we see the trails, our connection with the lands that need our respect and protection, AND to recognize the lands we are privileged to run on, AS stolen. First things first, there needs to be understanding - that those who are not Indigenous to these lands - are guests on these stolen lands. There is every opportunity for us, as people, to gain a new perspective, to show up, and to learn, support, and give visibility to the First peoples.
This initiative serves as an additional justice, diversity, equity and inclusion component to the work many are doing right now to rebuild a better, supportive and more inclusive future for everyone. This will help many runners, not just Indigenous, to feel more included and respected when coming into the running/outdoor spaces. Should you feel like this is the right path for you - it will begin with partnering with Rising hearts when organizing your events. We are looking to partner with forward thinking race/event directors and coordinators, looking to go the extra mile in supporting Native communities - but to expand that support and advocacy in creating a running community and outdoor environment to be more supportive and inclusive for Black, Indigenous, Brown, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Two Spirit, LGBTQ+, Non-binary runners and walkers, and People with disabilities in these spaces.
Together, let’s help make the running community more accessible, supportive, inclusive and visible.
Implementing land acknowledgements at your race / events:
1. Give a land acknowledgement at your race or event. Acknowledge the stolen lands you are on, that you are organizing on - the very lands that many Indigenous communities were forcibly removed from or are still the first and original caretakers of the lands.
A land acknowledgement is a formal recognition, a sign of respect for the First Peoples of the land and their connection to it and protection of the lands. Through this first step - you will be able to show respect and you will have a different, and hopefully, deeper connection and appreciation of the lands. In this first step, Rising Hearts is here to help support you in your outreach to Tribes, Indigenous communities or Native organizations that can help give a land acknowledgement. If someone from the local communities can’t, then find an Indigenous person in the surrounding areas to give the land acknowledgement. If any of these options can’t work - you will ask those voices or communities if they would like to provide a written land acknowledgement that your organizing entity can read before the races/events begin. If there are Indigenous participants in your event that are attending - we can reach out to them to see if they are okay with reading / giving the land acknowledgement before the last option. Lastly, if that can’t happen, your organizing entity will draft a written land acknowledgement and Rising Hearts will help review to ensure it is accurate and reflective of the communities, their culture, history, and presence on the lands.
RESOURCES TO USE TO FIND THE INDIGENOUS LANDS YOU ARE ON:
A. Download the NativeLand App - this is a great resource. NOTE: the app is not always accurate.
B. Visit https://native-land.ca/. NOTE: that this map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, contact the nations in question. but also know that all lands you are on - are stolen native lands.
C. Text your zip code to 907-312-5085 and the bot will respond the Indigenous Peoples/Tribes that are directly connected to those lands. NOTE: that this may not always be accurate.
D. Use google: For example, “Indigenous Tribes of the Great Plains… or Indigenous/Native Tribes and peoples of Los Angeles”
E. Visit cultural centers (when it’s more safe and not during a pandemic) in the towns you visit - learn from Indigenous voices in your self-informed education of understanding the lands you are on and who have been protecting them since pre-contact.
F. Don’t be performative with your posts - a land acknowledgement is not a "check in the box.”
NOTE: All technological systems created to help identify the Indigenous lands, peoples, their place names and Tribes you are on - are a work in progress and not always accurate.
For more resources on land acknowledgment please visit meztli projects - they have created a land acknowledgements document - the why, when, where, and intentions of giving a land acknowledgement:
www.bit.ly/NtvLand or email: [email protected]
GOING THE EXTRA MILE:
It doesn’t end with just a land acknowledgement at the race. It goes further.
Please donate $15 above to download our Running on Native Lands Toolkit and visit www.risinghearts.org/nativelands to learn more and contact us at [email protected] with “Running on Native Lands Initiative” in the subject, should you want to collaborate.
What you can expect from this partnership and what you will leave with:
1. You will be proactive in your learning
2. You will become a better ally to Indigenous Communities and those in need
3. You will have a new perspective of the lands you have access to – and recognizing that not everyone has this same privilege and sense of safety
4. You will become more informed
5. And this initiative - can be adapted to anything - not just running races/events.
Examples for Individuals wanting to give a land acknowledgment on their social media platforms with their photos:
"Occupied Tongva Lands / Los Angeles, CA"
"Támal Pájis / Coast Miwok - Mount Tamalpais / Ohlone Lands / San Francisco, CA / Marin, CA"
"Diné, Goshute, Southern Paiute, Eastern Shoshone, Ute lands - Bears Ears to Salt Lake City, UT"
We hope you team up with us! And to learn more about Rising Hearts – visit www.risinghearts.org
FOLLOW US
Instagram
@rising_hearts
@native_women_running
TRACKING YOUR DISTANCE
4 laps on a track = 1 Mile
12.5 laps on a track = 5K
25 laps on a track = 10K
Treadmill
MapMyRun.com
Find a Certified USATF Course
Some run/walk events display course maps at elitefeats.com
Many parks have measured 'fitness' trails open to the public
Download free app Strava & hit 'Record'
QUESTIONS
Email [email protected]
VIRTUAL HOW TO
1. Run/walk whenever & wherever you'd like!
2. Starting on the event date go to elitefeats.com/Results
3. Search for your name - click UPDATE.
4. Enter your time.
5. OPTIONAL upload up to 5 photos!
WHEN TO POST
EARLY REGISTRANTS (before start day) can start posting times ON start day!
LATE REGISTRANTS (after start day) allow up to 24 hours to post times.
BIB MAILING begins 1/24. Allow 3-5 business days to receive.
You don't need the bib to run/walk, it's a keepsake!