Honoring Our Native American Heritage: Running with Purpose

By Kate Herrera Jenkins (Cochiti Pueblo), Grambassador, Founder of Native Strength Revolution

November invites us to pause and reflect — to honor Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the strength, wisdom, and resilience of Indigenous peoples. For me, as a Pueblo woman and founder of Native Strength Revolution (an Indigenous wellness nonprofit), this month holds deep meaning. It’s about remembering where we come from, and how we keep moving — together, in body and spirit — toward a future rooted in balance and belonging.

Running has always been part of Indigenous life — a way to pray, to communicate, to heal, and to connect across lands and generations. In this season of remembrance, my thoughts turn toward the miles ahead: the path leading to Grandma’s Marathon next June in Duluth, Minnesota, where our Native Strength Revolution team and runners of all lineages will gather and run to honor our ancestors, our communities, and the land beneath our feet.

Movement as Medicine

Our work at Native Strength Revolution is grounded in the belief that wellness is cultural, relational, and sacred. We bring yoga, running, and leadership programs to Indigenous communities across North America — and Minnesota has become one of our most powerful homes for this work.

Through partnerships with tribal organizations and schools, we’ve shared space and movement with Leech Lake, Red Lake Nation, Grand Portage Anishinaabe and urban Native centers in the Twin Cites communities. Each program begins with the same intention: to help our people remember that healing isn’t something we chase — it’s something we return to.

In Minnesota, we see the beauty of that return — youth finding joy in running again, families gathering for sunrise yoga, and educators bringing Indigenous wellness practices into their classrooms. Movement becomes medicine. Community becomes strength.

The Land We Run On

As we prepare for Grandma’s Marathon, we also honor the lands we’ll run across — the homelands of the Anishinaabe people, who have cared for these waters and forests for generations. In Duluth, we’ll move alongside Gichigami — Lake Superior — whose spirit has guided runners, paddlers, and travelers long before marathons were ever mapped.

For the Anishinaabe, movement and water are both sacred — each a teacher in how to live in rhythm with the Earth. To run here is to be a guest and a learner, honoring that wisdom with humility and gratitude.

Remembering Our Revolt, Reclaiming Our Rhythm

As a Pueblo woman, I carry the story of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, when our ancestors united through runners — messengers who traveled hundreds of miles across desert and mesa, carrying cords tied with knots that counted down to freedom. Those runners didn’t run for sport; they ran for life, for sovereignty, for future generations.

Their courage lives on in every Indigenous person who runs today — for healing, for hope, for representation. It’s a reminder that our feet still know the way home.

Why We Run Together

When our Native Strength Revolution team lines up at Grandma’s Marathon next June, we won’t just be athletes — we’ll be storytellers, healers, and bridge-builders. Each step will honor the teachings of the Pueblo and the Anishinaabe.

November reminds us that heritage is not history — it’s living culture. It’s the songs we sing, the languages we protect, the way we show up for each other, and the way we keep moving, even when the path is long.

A Call to Honor and Move

This Native American Heritage Month, I invite everyone — runners, walkers, hikers, fishers, hunters— to find your own way to honor the land you live on and the people whose stories run through it.

Run a few miles in gratitude.
Learn the names of the Indigenous nations where you live.
Support Native-led organizations doing good work in your region.
And when June arrives, it’s GO-time at Grandma’s Marathon — a race that’s more than a finish line! It’s a prayer in motion.

Miigwech. Nay-Trah. Thank you.