by By Dan Ninham
Organization leaders have often traversed from the lower ranks to be at the helm. This is the case of Dustin Martin with the Wings of America program.
Soon after moving from the east coast to Santa Fe, NM in 1987, Will E. Channing founded The Earth Circle Foundation as a non-profit in 1988. He quickly began putting his circle of empowered leaders together to address the social issues of young indigenous youth. The collaborative result culminated into the Wings of America Indian youth running development program, the charitable group’s sole beneficiary.
According to the Wings of America website (https://www.wingsofamerica.org/our-history/), “… these runners use the opportunities they earn with Wings to show that they are the leaders, thinkers, and teachers of tomorrow.”
The Wings of the Southwest junior boys and girls won the 1988 TAC/USA National Cross Country Championships. The teams have won 32 national team championships since.
Memories of an Aspiring Elite Distance Runner
Dustin Martin, 30, is a proud member of the Navajo Nation. “I am béésh bich’ahii, the German clan, born for táchíi’nii, red running into water clan,” said Dustin. “My maternal grandfathers were immigrants to New York City and my paternal grandfathers are kíyaa’ánii, towering house people. I was born in Chinle, AZ but lived in and around Gallup, NM until high school. I have lived in Albuquerque, NM for most of my adult life.”
“Some of my earliest memories are sounds of my mom and the dogs leaving the house early in the morning for a run,” said Dustin. “When my parents weren’t working, we were outdoors enjoying the vast sanctuaries of the southwest. Any trip we took required physical activity to make the most of our surroundings. So when I was introduced to organized sports, exertion was never a concern. But my balance and coordination weren’t stellar. Instead, I stood out on the playing field because I hustled.”
“I first knew I wanted to be a serious runner while tagging along with the Gallup High School track team in the spring of 2001,” said Dustin. “Though I was only a sixth grader, my mom was an assistant to legendary coaches Curtis Williams and Spencer Sielschott. Every weekend, I watched in awe as Zia Pueblo runner Felicia Guliford dominated her competition.” Felicia was a finalist for the 2007 NCAA DI Woman of the Year honor as an All American track and cross country athlete at the University of Tennessee.
Dustin was not destined to be a Gallup HS Bengal. His mom moved his brother and him to Albuquerque before his eighth grade year and she attended graduate school.
“I found peace with my new surroundings and friends through running,” said Dustin. “I joined the USATF club team Albuquerque Athletics Track and got my first taste of competition. Here, I met one of my best friends and running mentors, Matt Tebo. Little did we know, we would push one other to get faster until we both went to college.”
Dustin was admitted to Albuquerque Academy as a freshman in high school, a private school known for its academic rigor and runners.
“I thrived in the competitive setting and worked hard enough during the summer to make the varsity squad from the outset,” said Dustin. “Our team battled with the Los Alamos Hilltoppers all season but ultimately lost by two points at the state championships, held for the last time at Red Rock State Park in Gallup. A few weeks after state, I finished 2nd at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in the ‘youth’ age division.”
Through the rest of Dustin’s high school career, their cross-country and track teams won seven team titles. He was proud to serve as a team captain for both the cross-country and track teams his upper-class years.
“Although I never won an individual state title, I was fortunate to chase some of the best distance runners to ever come out of New Mexico week in and week out,” said Dustin. “These athletes included Matt Tebo, Benjamin Johnson and Shadrack Kiptoo Biwott. More importantly, my coach, Adam Kedge, fostered a culture of hard work and accountability that provided teammates to train with and push me to get faster every day. Our team placed 10th at the inaugural Nike Team Nationals in 2004 and then seventh place in 2006.”
“In 2005, I made my first Wings National Team,” said Dustin. “Craig Curley, Diné, and Clay Mayes, Cherokee, were both a part of the squad that traveled to New York City for the USA Cross Country Championships early the next year. Our race at Van Cortland Park was the first time I was noticed by the coaches at Columbia University, the college I would eventually attend.”
“I ran with Dustin Martin on the 2006 Wings team,” said Clay Mayes, head cross-country coach at NAIA University of Antelope Valley. “Dustin was the only Wings member that kicked my butt at the USA XC Championship at Van Cortland Park in NYC.”
“From time to time over the years, we exchanged messages and a call here and there. I always kept tabs on how Dustin was doing out of respect and admiration for the type of character he has always shown and possessed with his actions. Since racing with Dustin on the Wings team, he’s always been an incredibly motivated person as a successful runner, student scholar, and has always been a person of morality. A truly selfless person, who has this positive internal pressure to change and build native communities for the better,” added Clay.
“There is no other person I appreciate more or respect more for his selfless deeds, countless time he’s sacrificed, and patience he has given me and in return,” said Clay.
In 2006, Dustin planned to run as an unattached runner at the USA Cross Country Championships in Boulder, CO. The night before the race he got a call from Kelly Concho-Hayes, Diné/Acoma Pueblo, the Wings of America Program Director at the time, asking if he would join their team the next day because they were still one scoring member short.
“I’ll never forget barging into the team meeting at the hotel to pick up my uniform while legendary Adams State Coach Joe Vigil was addressing the other members of the team,” said Dustin. “I was so oblivious of running history and focused on my race plan that I didn’t even stick around to hear the end of his speech!”
“The next morning, however, I had one of the best races of my life and finished eighth overall in a field that included some of the nation’s top prep recruits and dozens of NCAA DI college freshman. It was just the performance I needed to prove to the college coaches that were interested in me that I was the ‘real deal.’ A few days later, the Columbia University coaching and admissions staff bent over backwards to get me the financial aid package I needed to commit to moving to NYC for the next four years,” added Dustin.
“Running in college was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that kept me focused on my studies and health during a time when many others let ‘FOMO’ get the better of them,” said Dustin. “Though I refused to buy in to the ‘you only deserve respect if you’re fast’ team culture and was constantly plagued with nagging injuries, I still found peace in the daily routine and worked hard to live up to the tough-love expectations of our assistant coach, Jon Clemens. I’m most proud to have been a part of the squad that won ‘Heps,’ the Ivy League conference championships in the fall of 2009. Besides that, my college career was pretty lack-luster.”
The Wings Family Started At the Ancestral Homelands
After graduating from college Summa Cum Laude in May of 2011, Dustin planned to try his luck in New York City working on a clothing brand he started out of his dorm room. “The universe had a different path for me,” said Dustin. “That August, Shaun Martin, Diné, stepped down from his role as Wings of America Program Director and recommended me as his successor. As I was on the phone trying to sign a lease on my first apartment, I received another call from Wings founder, Will E. Channing, offering me Shaun’s job. I used the money I had saved for my apartment deposit to buy a car and drove back to New Mexico for an October 1, 2011 start date.”
“As soon as I got home, I was right back in the running scene looking for the fastest Native high school runners,” said Dustin. “Wings was fortunate to have prospects like Jackson Thomas, Diné, at the top of the talent pool. I relied on my experience as a college runner to lead by example and was proud to usher my first Wings National Team to St. Louis in February of 2012. I owe a lot to my colleague at the time, Delight Talawepi, Hopi, for helping me understand all the logistics involved with recruiting, selecting and arranging travel for more than a dozen student-athletes from across Indian Country. I would never have made it through that first year without her!”
“Since 2012, the years have flown by,” said Dustin. “It has been a great honor to help continue the tradition of excellence exhibited by Wings athletes and raise the profile of deserving Native runners from all over the United States. During that time I have also volunteered to coach track at the Santa Fe Indian School a few seasons and rekindled friendships with many of the coaches I learned to respect when I was in high school.”
Joe Calabaza, head cross-country/track coach at Santa Fe Indian School, talked about the service leadership of Dustin Martin: “I had the pleasure of working with Dustin Martin for the past few years. Dustin has been very good to our program at the Santa Fe Indian School. The Wings program has been very gracious to my student athletes, by not only supplying the team with shoes, but with his encouragement of my athletes to keep on striving to be the best athletes that each one can be. He helped me facilitate one of my summer camps at the school and he showed the kids how to keep running fun.”
“The Santa Fe Indian School Cross-Country program has consisted of nearly 100 athletes each season that I have been the head coach. So, Dustin helps us out a great deal. I had the pleasure of watching Dustin’s Wings program have a few of the Santa Fe Indian School athletes,” added Joe.
“Dustin also runs the Summer Wings camps around the Native nation, and he has had some of my athletes go with him to help facilitate with his camps,” said Joe.
“Dustin is a great advocate for our native youth, he encourages the students to stay active. All in all, Dustin is a great person to work with,” added Joe.
“To be perfectly honest, I did not grow up in a ‘traditional’ household,” said Dustin. “My mom is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beach girl that grew up in Goleta, CA. My dad spent most of his childhood far removed from his Diné roots in places like Elko, NV, Vietnam and India. But somehow I was born on ‘the Rez’ and grew up in and around a border town after my parents decided to settle in Gallup, NM. This granted me a working knowledge of Navajo culture, language and landscapes.”
“More importantly, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with shinálí hastiin, my paternal grandfather,” said Dustin. “When I was a little boy, he and his brothers ran cattle at a ranch near Chaco Canyon. His lifestyle and work ethic inspired me to no end. Because of his influence, the first profession I remember wanting to be was a horse trainer.”
“My grandfather gifted me a horse for my seventh birthday and the hard work and commitment that came along with caring for my horse, Sox, were an important part of my upbringing. He also provided me an opportunity to learn my surroundings and cover long distances long before I could cover them on my own two feet. Now that I look back, the time I spent in the saddle and helping care for our animals was perhaps the most ‘traditional’ part of my childhood. Not only did it help me understand the lifestyle of my ancestors but it also instilled in me a very practical awareness of my environment and sense of accountability that I try to impress upon Wings runners today,” added Dustin.
“After I made my first Wings National Team I started to understand how running was a part of my Native identity,” said Dustin. “While traveling and competing with a team of other Natives I became aware of Indigenous running history and started to feel responsible for defending the legacy of those that came before us. I felt proud to be one of the few representing our people on the national stage.”
“My Wings teammates helped me gain a better understanding of ‘rez’ geography, humor and etiquette when we worked together as Summer Running & Fitness Camp facilitators. Because I was fast, my colleagues and camp participants put up with my city boy tendencies and listened when I offered running advice. But truthfully, I feel they offered me much more than I offered them.”
“Being a part of the Wings family and close to our ancestral homelands gave me a true picture of what it means to ‘give back’ and that running is so much more than an opportunity to compete. With this knowledge, I will be a runner for as long as my body will allow and not just for as long as I can win races,” added Dustin.
“Ultimately, I think my upbringing has taught me that you can’t expect great things for yourself unless you’re also willing to give back to the land, culture and creatures that inspire your ambitions. Hard work and motivation are essential but so is having the patience and awareness to listen to those with more experience when they are willing to share their knowledge,” added Dustin.
“In any race worth running there will always be a breaking point,” said Dustin. “Some people internalize the struggle and feel sorry for themselves so they can ease up. Others push through the pain with the realization that the opportunity to perform at that level may never present itself again. Falling flat on your face trying to push through the pain hurts a lot less than finishing and knowing you gave up on what could have been. That ‘it’s a good day to die’ attitude also has way more potential to inspire those that will look up to you.”
“Dustin has always been inquisitive and attentive,” said dad Jon Martin, Diné. “At a young age of three or four years old he was known for being able to handle intelligent conversations with grown adults. His inquisitive nature has developed his confidence based on what he has perceived as right or wrong. His judgment in this area is almost always spot on.”
“One of the best examples of his leadership and general character was when he was selected as the ‘Head of School’ for his graduating class at the Albuquerque Academy,” said Jon. “This award is presented to the student who best exemplified the overall spirit of the academy not necessarily the student with the best academic record. The academy teachers and administrator selected him for the honor. The student’s overall contributions to the school were recognized in this manner. I feel that serving as the captain of two state championship teams, his individual effort as a runner, his contributions to the community, and his academic achievements were the reasons he was selected.”
“The performance of the Albuquerque Academy cross-country team led them to be selected twice to compete in the Nike Nationals Cross Country Meet. This event hosts the top 20 high school boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams from across the country for a head-to-head competition. Dustin’s leadership enabled the team to qualify and compete in the event bringing recognition to the Academy as a perennial powerhouse,” added Jon.
“Dustin is a hard worker,” said Jon. “He is dedicated to what he believes in. This is based on his ability to sort right from wrong and sticking to what he believes is right and best for the overall strength and longevity of his program. He has worked hard for his accomplishments.”
“As the head of the Wings organization he is dedicated to serving tribal communities and their youth,” said Jon. “He has seen the conditions and challenges of reservation life and knows the misery and hopelessness that often pervades the lives of native youth. Starting at a young age he introduces the ideas of fitness, healthy diets, and the cultural importance of running. The results of this are apparent when you see Wings alum moving on to successful college careers. They are all examples of what hard work and conscientious decisions about your well-being can do for you, your family and your community.”
“Running is Dustin’s life and he is committed to using it as a tool. This is demonstrated in involvement with prayer runs for the Bear’s Ears National Monument. This effort has brought him face-to-face with the issues of racial inequities and the strength needed to overcome these inequalities,” added Jon.
Leading By Example From Day One
Leaders have philosophy statements that help guide them on their path empowering others.
“Never assume you know what’s best for someone else until you’ve asked them how they feel,” said Dustin.
“Don’t be afraid to ask as much as you ask of yourself from those you love and trust. This is something I still struggle to put into practice but I believe it to be true. If you’re asking too much or not enough, those close to you will help you adjust your expectations before you ‘self-destruct.’ But only if you show them respect by sharing your responsibilities with them in the first place,” added Dustin.
“Be able to laugh at yourself and admit mistakes,” said Dustin. “But don’t ever let that humility turn into self-deprecation.”
“My high school cross country and track coach, Adam Kedge, is someone I will always look up to,” said Dustin. “He understands what brings him happiness and gives thanks for his blessings every day. He taught me that winning isn’t about dominating your competitor, but about knowing your best self. He is a coach and chemistry teacher at Albuquerque Academy to this day.”
“Dustin’s efforts at Albuquerque Academy took the program to new heights,” said Adam Kedge, Dustin’s former high school coach. “His unrelenting will and work ethic set a tone that his teammates had no option but to follow. He made sure that all were aboard with a team-wide path to success. Anyone who faltered, even for a day or a rep, was brought back in and willed to keep pace. Dustin had a spirit that never waned. From day one he was our clear leader, not afraid of anything or anyone. His time on the team was some of my most cherished days.”
Claudia Bergsohn was a high school cross country and track athlete a few years after the start of the Title IX era. During her freshman and sophomore years in college she was an All American distance runner in two different national associations. In 1980, she was an Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) All American at Humboldt State University. The next year she was an NCAA DII All American the first year women’s cross-country was an NCAA sport.
From the spring of 1987 to the fall of 1990 and another stint in 1992, Claudia was an assistant coach to head coach Curtis Williams at Gallup HS in NM. In 1997 she was a girls track assistant/distance coach to head coach Spencer Sielschott at Gallup HS.
“Almost my entire life, I watched my mom coach by leading by example running alongside her athletes. She not only told them but showed them how to find joy in the process, not just the results.”
“I always told him that the runners would respect me more and work harder for me and themselves knowing that I knew what they were going through,” said mom Claudia. “He came to practice with me from a young age, was at his first cross country meet at two weeks old and started joining us on our runs as soon as he was able. He really looked up to the Gallup HS runners and grew up in a community where they were regarded with reverence. Although I never forced him to run, he always wanted to be a part of that tradition.”
“Running has always been my meditation and the force in my life that has kept me centered. He’s seen me through the years getting outside to feel the earth beneath my feet regardless of weather or a busy schedule. I think he’s found the power of that as well,” added Claudia.
“Dr. Anthony Fleg, father, runner, community organizer, and physician, has taught me that running and community should go hand in hand,” said Dustin. “Even if you prefer to run alone, having a community to warm-up and cool-down with breeds happiness and how could that be a bad thing? Dr. Fleg has also taught me how important it is to recognize a community’s assets before thinking how to help them defy their disadvantages.”
“Dustin is an incredible collaborator to have in this work of inspiring Indigenous communities to move,” said Dr. Anthony Fleg. “I appreciate Dustin’s holistic approach to connecting culturally with the land and traditions through movement, a much different approach than simply focusing on miles logged, calories burned. Dustin and I meet in a very unique way: We run for two hours or so and the meeting is the run!”
“I believe that good leaders expect from others only what they expect of themselves and Dustin expects great things,” said longtime friend and mentor Matt Tebo. “He was, and is, relentlessly optimistic. This showed up every time we headed out the door for a run or stood on the starting line together. He knew it was going to hurt, but he also knew that today, pick a day, we would get the best out of ourselves.”
“What makes Dustin a great leader is not only that he expects great things, but he expects them in a way that invites you to share his hope. I know because we were never on the same team in high school, but I went as hard as possible on every run for four straight years because I knew without a doubt that he was out somewhere doing the same thing. He got the best out of me from across the city and it was no different from across the country,” added Matt.
“I remember visiting him in New York City,” said Matt. “On a run in Central Park I had this eerie feeling of being at home in a place I had never been before. I finally realized that it was because we were together doing the same work we had been doing separately for some time. It was the same work we always did out in the Albuquerque foothills: hope relentlessly with our legs, lungs, and hearts.”
“I can count on one hand the number of great leaders I know, but having one as a friend for almost 20 years is a blessing,” added Matt.
“Dustin Martin has truly evolved into a transformation leader,” said Kelly Concho-Hayes, former Wings Program Director and current Lead Director of Organizational Development, Boys & Girls Clubs of America Native Services Unit. “In the time that I worked with Dustin, his tenacity and leadership has truly evolved the Wings organization into new heights. As an essential outstanding leader, Dustin has used his innate traits and influence to motivate young non-Native and Native alike to be their best at all aspect of their lives. From the time I met Dustin, he portrayed the true attributes of a transformational leader. Through this, Dustin has changed and inspired lives. I am grateful for the time spent to work in partnership with Dustin but more grateful to have him as a friend. He truly emulates a leader that all young non-Native and Native should strive to be.”
“Dustin has been a leader ever since he was a runner with Wings of America,” said Delight Talawepi, Hopi, former Office Assistant and Manager of Wings of America in 2008-14, and current Assistant to the Academic Dean at the Institute of American Indian Arts. “Dustin was asked to be the Program Manager in 2010. He has inspired many young youth to be runners, not to mention my own son who knew Dustin since he was one-year old.”
“As a Program Manager who was responsible in developing all the Just Move It (JMI) Running and Fitness Camps on the Navajo Nation, he provided leadership and mentorship skill for our summer high school/college facilitators. Once on board, he also developed a great partnership with Nike. Even though Wings of America was already connected with Nike to receive shoes for our youths, Dustin took it to a whole new level to where the partnership involved monetary grants. Dustin was a part of the 25th and 30th Wings of America anniversaries involving our runners and facilitators to shine amongst our donors. The amazing work Dustin took on included the development of Native youth runners from the Santa Fe Public Schools, Hopi Reservation, New Jersey, Brooklyn (NY), South Dakota along with Billy Mills, California, just to name a few. It is well deserved to have the title of Wings of America Program Director,” added Delight.
“With all the talents Dustin holds, which include printmaking, he enjoys teaching all our native youth from elementary to high school to do self-care on hygiene, exercise and schooling,” said Delight. “I’m currently a board member of the Santa Fe Public School (SFPS) Native American Program, and all our children get so excited when they know we’re having a Wings event with Dustin in attendance. They flock to him because they sense his enjoyment in being a runner.”
“Personally, I think Dustin was a blessing to the Wings of American program. I watched him grow from a runner, to someone coming into a job with un-sureness with his college career put on hold, to someone who has complete confidence in himself as a leader and mentor, board members, facilitators, student youths from all ages and Wings of America as an organization,” added Delight.
“I have great respect for Mac Hall and his leadership of the National Indian Youth Leadership Project (NIYLP),” said Dustin. “Even though he leads one of the most-experienced youth development organizations in Indian Country, he is always willing to listen, collaborate and think outside the box. I also always see his organization focus their resources on programs and quality mentors and not fancy equipment and/or events.”
The King of the Mountains Is a Trail Racing Role Model
“I’m still learning what is possible for me as a runner,” said Dustin. “Above all, I want to continue to run to help Indigenous youth see what a valuable tool the sport can be for knowing one’s self and our homelands. And whether you run in prayer with a group for the protection of sacred places and people, or to know the fastest version of yourself, running can lead to amazing opportunities to represent our communities in a positive light to the outside world. I don’t want them to feel afraid to embrace those opportunities.”
“My coaching style relies on my ability to run with those athletes I’m mentoring. I think it’s important they can see that I would never ask them to do something I wouldn’t ask of myself. So far, this strategy has served me well. But I know I won’t always be able to keep up. Nevertheless, I’ll keep training and coaching like I belong alongside the fastest runners in Indian Country, whether my body likes it or not,” added Dustin.
The Big Tesuque Trail Run starts at about 10,000 feet elevation outside of Santa Fe, NM. The 11.6 mile mountain trail race climbs about 2,000 feet on a forest service road to Tesuque Peak and back down. The mountain scenery is amazing.
Dustin won the Big Tesuque Trail Run six consecutive times from 2012-17.
A runner talked about Dustin in the 2013 race: “What I remember about the race the most is hitting a long straight away about two miles into the climb, and the leader (Dustin) was already out of sight!” This quote was on the website: https://endurancebuzz.com/2013/10/10/big-tesuque-trail-run-2013-results-dustin-martin-and-katie-gillen-prove-they-can-still-fly/
There is a science and an art to mountain trail running. The same website has a free video called “8 Skills To Run Downhill With More Confidence and Speed.”
The “King of the Mountains” title has been given to legendary endurance trail runner Steven Gachupin, Jemez Pueblo, and rightly so. He won the La Luz Trail Run five consecutive times in Albuquerque, NM. The La Luz Trail Run is a 9.2 mile climb up a 12% grade to the top of the 10,678-foot Sandia Crest.
Steven Gachupin also won the Pike’s Peak Marathon six consecutive times from 1966-71 in Colorado Springs, CO.
“My racing role model is Steven Gachupin,” said Dustin. “Steven ran with his heart, inspired by his homelands and family with zero fear that he didn’t have the same resources or coaching to beat his world-class competitors that most of the time he had no idea we’re world-class. Racing was worth it for him just so that he could test himself and his training.”
“He once told a group of Wings facilitators that he didn’t take any water during the 1968 Olympic Marathon trials in Alamosa, CO simply because he didn’t know he could or should. But he just laughed at himself and shook his head rather than give the classic ‘if I had taken some water, I would’a gone to the Olympics routine’. That’s the perspective and humility I want to have when I look back at my racing career,” added Dustin.
“Finally, he also once told us that the reason he’s most happy to be a runner is because of those times he encountered a relative that really needed his help when he was the only one around for miles (e.g. they were on the side of the road too intoxicated to take care of themselves or weak to get to warmth),” said Dustin. “That really stuck with me, and made me respect him even more.”
Dustin has racing goals to win the La Luz Trail Run. He raced it three times with his highest finish as runner-up. He is also training to qualify for the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials.
Developing a Running Identity Toward Leader Success
Transformational leaders have philosophy statements about anything and everything. This guides them in their professional practice toward excellence. Each leader defines success their own way.
“Unless we’re talking about completing specific tasks that need to be completed to see an idea or project through, I believe personal and professional success should never be defined,” said Dustin. “That’s like asking yourself to be able to see into the future. Things will never turn out exactly the way you expect them to. But if you do honest work to move the needle along, you’ll learn things about yourself and make friends along the way that will inspire new goals and keep life interesting.”
“I feel most successful when someone trusts me enough to ask for help or advice on something that pushes someone beyond the comfort zone. I tend to only ask advice from people I see practicing what they preach,” added Dustin.
“Before I was a runner, I didn’t know who I was,” said Dustin. “Growing up in a border town, I was too light skinned to be a ‘rez kid’ and too brown to be ‘white.’ Running gave me a purpose and identity both in the eyes of my peers and my own. As I continue to learn more about Native running history and heritage, I’m beginning to learn that competition isn’t the end-all-be-all of running or life. The opportunity to learn about the land of my ancestors with the help of my own two feet is very exclusive and cannot be taken for granted.”
“With the help of youth mentors from the communities we serve, Wings is working to transpose the ‘Native running curriculum’ we usually deliver in-person into a digital format,” said Dustin. “This takes quite a bit of creativity and planning when many tribal communities don’t have easy access to high-speed Internet and many of our facilitators have little experience editing video. Nevertheless, we’ve devised a plan to use very affordable tablets uploaded with videos that don’t need a Wi-Fi connection to play.”
“Along with weekly phone check-ins from our youth mentors and small rewards for loyal participation, we hope our content will help Native youth still feel like they’re part of a community. We are also keeping close tabs on the many ‘virtual races’ being organized to learn a format that works well for Indian Country. We are very fortunate to focus on an activity that can still feel safe during these fearful times. Though we certainly hope to use the excitement and inspiration of large group gathering when the pandemic has subsided, we’re also eager to test new strategies that may help Wings serve communities that we haven’t had the capacity to serve in-person for many years.”
The Little Eyes And The Bigger Eyes Are Always Watching
“During my time as program director/executive director of Wings of America, I can confidently say our programs have directly connected at least 15,000 youth with Native mentors through running,” said Dustin. “That includes Running & Fitness Camp participants, National team members, and Flight Club members. If you start to add in all the youth participants at the running and walking events our staff and facilitators volunteer at, those numbers go way up.”
Since the beginning of the Wings of America program, an estimated 50,000 native youth and adults have been impacted by their programming.
Wings of America founder Will E. Channing said: “Success is a process that includes an observation what is around you and to observe our world, our environment, and the animals. Making decisions is based on allowing your heart and spirit to be your strength.”
“Before our Wings of America board of director meetings, Dustin would lead prayer to bring in the positive energy of creation and all that is around us. Dustin has been an amazing inspiration to younger generations coming up all over the southwest and beyond,” added Will.
Oren Lyons was instrumental in the co-founding and sustenance to this day and beyond of two major athletic organizations for indigenous youth and adults. Will E. Channing initially invited Oren and Andrew R. Hixon to discuss his idea of a native youth running program and the three made it happen. Oren also was instrumental in the formation of the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse program.
Oren recounted a conversation with Dustin: “Dustin is a good man, a very good man. He is a very good man for the Wings program. We would talk about having a positive lifestyle. Our leaders need to live a good lifestyle because the kids are watching us.”
Just as the little eyes are always watching when we know and don’t know it, the bigger eyes are also watching too.
“Dustin is a visionary,” said Billy Mills, Lakota, 1964 US Olympic 10,000m Champion and Wings of America board of directors member. “He has the wisdom of an elder and is blessed with a unique gift, an ability, based on his traditional ways to understand how to inspire the dreams of our youth.
“By using running as the catalyst, under his leadership Wings has been able to empower more and more of our youth to take the virtues and values of their tribal nations’ culture, traditions, and spirituality and look inward to find their own individual dream,” added Billy.
“One of Dustin’s leadership qualities that form who he is on and off the field is his integrity,” said Billy. “One’s integrity is strongly based upon how one is raised. Dustin, by passing integrity on to our youth, will become a positive mentor outside of the home to many.”
“He also possesses the powerful quality to communicate in writing as well as verbally. He chooses the words he speaks to reflect the truth and promote positive progress,” added Billy.
“Another quality of Dustin’s leadership is empathy,” said Billy. “This has allowed him to empower the dreams of our youth. Our 7th generation being born today is in good hands with young leaders like Dustin Martin.”
Angelo Baca, Navajo/Hopi, Utah Diné Bikéyah, Cultural Resources Coordinator, former Wings youth development program clinician, seven-time NJCAA All American runner and three-time NJCAA national champion, and Wings national team alum in the mid-90’s, said: “Dustin is an exemplary role model for Native youth runners who not only believes in their development as runners and people, but in social and environmental justice for Indigenous communities in the Southwest and beyond. His leadership demonstrates what it takes not just to run well but to also be a better person always striving to make the world a better place for himself, the communities he serves, and the causes he cares about. His collaborative work with the Bears Ears tribal communities centered on protecting the landscape shared among the Bears Ears Tribal Coalition and other tribes, with both the Bears Ears Prayer Run Alliance (BEPRA) and Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB) Indigenous-led non-profits. This highlights his ability to work with and collaborate in a respectful and responsible manner giving our youth an opportunity to directly connect to their culture, landscape, and history through running.”
“I believe what Wings is most proud of is supporting developing runners and providing them the opportunity to impact their younger peers,” said Dustin. “Those are the ones that ‘count’.”
The Wings of America extended family continues to be graciously thankful for the leadership.
