REAL PEOPLE/The Power of Sisterhood
Leading the Way
Verna NezBegay Volker encourages Native American women to run
Volker trail running
MY FIRST RUN happened almost by accident. It was the winter of 2008, and life was overwhelming. I was taking care of my husband, taking care of the kids—everyone but myself. I weighed nearly 200 pounds. One of my sisters suggested we go for a run, and once we got moving, something clicked for me. My mood lifted. I started to make it a habit. I began to feel better and stronger.
The following year, I ran my first half-marathon, but it wasn’t until I started running races on trails in 2018 that I started really paying attention to who was participating in these events—and who was missing.
I had always known the stories of our Indigenous people—how running served as a form of meditation and a connection to the land. And it struck me that at my races, I was often the only brown person I could see. I wondered how many other women like me would participate if they felt welcomed and represented. So I created an Instagram community, called Native Women Running, to encourage women to get active in the sport. We now sponsor runners all over the country and raise money for charity—$135,000 so far.
The majority of Native women I interact with tell me they run for spiritual reasons. They’ll say running is healing, running is prayer, running is our medicine.
Volker with fellow runners
All of my races are in honor of my parents and my three siblings who have passed. I don’t focus on winning the race. For me, it’s all about taking one step at a time and remembering why I’m running.
I grew up on a reservation, and I know that there are lots of negative stereotypes out there about Native people. My goal is to spread a positive image of us. And just to say that we women, we Native women, are here. —As told to Jennifer E. Mabry
Minneapolis resident Verna NezBegay Volker, 49, a former elementary school teacher, is a member of the Navajo Nation.