by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Ayanna O’Kimosh recently earned the title: USA Boxing National Champion.
“I’m 11 years old, 5’ tall, weigh 92 pounds and I’m a boxer,” said Ayanna O’Kimosh. “I am in 6th grade at Shawano Community Middle School, Shawano, WI.”
“I am an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation and a descendent of the Menominee and Arikara Tribes,” said Ayanna. “My mom is Michelle Bailey, an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation and my dad is Jerrit O’Kimosh, an enrolled member of the Menominee Tribe. My family lives in Keshena, Wisconsin.”
Ayanna is a Silver Gloves state champion and regional champion, a National Silver Gloves silver medalist, Junior Olympic state champion and regional champion, Junior Olympic national bronze medalist and USA Boxing Eastern Elite Qualifier Silver medalist.
“My training is going very well,” said Ayanna. “We are working on building more speed and power. I do 150 sit-ups, burpees, mountain climbers, neck exercises, yoga, medicine ball workouts, a variety of core strengthening exercises, shadow boxing, weight training, speed and agility training, cardio, 6-10 rounds of sparring, 6 rounds of heavy bag work, punch mitts work, etc…”
“My core values have taught me to work hard to achieve my goals and pursue my dreams,” said Ayanna. “They have taught me to be respectful to others and be grateful for the things I have been given. My core values have taught me: to be kind to others and have taught me to not talk bad about others or myself; to behave and how to be a positive influence for others; and, to fight for what I believe in. The things that I fight to bring awareness to and represent in boxing are the water, for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls, and for the many injustices that affect indigenous people. My hope is to change the narrative for future youth.”
My grandpa, Forrest O’Kimosh, was also a boxer and influenced me by supporting my boxing and making me want to push harder to achieve my goals,” said Ayanna.
Grandpa Forrest addressed his granddaughter wanting to be a boxer: “When my son Jerrit first told me Ayanna wants to start boxing, I told my wife Renee, ‘oh no she doesn’t have the makings to become a boxer, because she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body’. As a former golden glove boxer I knew what it would take to become a champion. After watching her train night after night after school she sure changed my mind. I’ve never seen anybody train as hard as she does. Moral of the story don’t judge a book by its cover. She inspires numerous people that she doesn’t even know by her example of fighting for women’s right’s, water is life, missing murdered and indigenous women. After all her fights she thanked all of her followers that support her on a Facebook video on social media, this girl is a true peoples champion #TeamAyanna. Grampa loves Ayanna and she truly inspires me.”
“My parents support me by allowing me to pursue my dreams and support the choices that I make,” said Ayanna. “They push me to work my hardest whether it is in school or at the gym. They also support me by making sure I am able to get to the big tournaments and compete. I know traveling is very expensive, but they always find a way to make it happen. I also receive great support from my community that I greatly appreciate.”
“They support the things that I believe in and believe are important. My mom has taught me about MMIP and the atrocities that are happening to our people across North America. I choose to fight to bring awareness Nationally about this issue. My dad has taught me all about the importance of water from a young age. When I was eight years old we walked about 30 miles from Marinette, Wisconsin to Stephenson, Michigan to bring awareness about the importance of protecting our water and Mother Earth. My parents understand me and know that I hope to use the gifts that were given to me to bring awareness and hopefully change to issues that affect us as indigenous people.”
“It’s difficult for me to speak of Ayanna because the pride fogs my eyes most times,” said dad Jerrit O’Kimosh. “For Ayanna it started a very young age. I believe she was four years old and heard us speak of a 5k run to support victims of domestic abuse. Ayanna immediately said that she wanted to run to help people. I tried to explain to her that the 5k distance was 3.1 miles and it was probably too long for her to run. She immediately told me, ‘no it’s not.’ Well I took her to the run and she ran every step of the way and pushed people that were slowing down or walking with verbal encouragement. It was at this very young age that I realized that she was a born leader.”
“A few years ago Ayanna found out about the Back 40 mine and wanted to know what she could do to protect the water,” said Jerrit. “I knew there was a water walk happening that was going from Marinette, WI to Stephenso, MI. Ayanna told me that she wanted to walk. I told her that the walk was nearly 30 miles. She still insisted and walked the entire way and helped to carry the ceremonial water. I got really bad blisters on my feet during the water walk and really wanted to quit. Ayanna kept encouraging me telling me not to stop it’s for the water. At this point I knew my young daughter would push me to keep going. The look she gave me motivated me to keep going. I would have more than likely stopped because of the pain had she not pushed me.”
“Ayanna is also a great teacher and helper with the younger boxers at the gym. She will also push her teammates to work harder than they think they can. She has great sportsmanship that she displayed in every match. At the National Championship the decision was rendered, Ayanna was worried about consoling her opponent, who was visibly distraught, after the loss instead of celebrating her National Title. She made sure her opponent was okay before she had a chance to feel her victory. The compassion that she shows is most definitely a great leadership quality,” added Jerrit.
Photo Credit: Jerrit O’Kimosh
