Louis Tewanima was a member of the Hopi Tribe of the Second Mesa in northeastern Arizona. He was born in 1888, the year of the great blizzards in America. Tewanima was a track team member of the Carlisle Industrial Indian School. One of his teammates was Jim Thorpe. Together, Jim and Louis took the world by surprise and brought much pride and heart-bursting joy to their family, friends, community and country when, in 1912 at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, they easily won first and second place in the track and field events and blew away the expected winners.

Thorpe took the Gold medals in nine of the fifteen games. He was the first and only one to ever win both the Decathlon and the Pentathlon. Tewanima came up right behind him capturing the Silver in the 10,000 meters race. They also captured the hearts of not only America, but, the world. These two Native Americans who had been torn unwillingly from their homes, forced to learn a way of life they knew nothing about, went through their young lives facing struggles, sorrow, loss of families, home, and discrimination came out on top of the world, together. Rather than succumb to depression and defeat as young boys, they stood tall and learned to survive to become heroes and legends in their own right.

Tewanima is a legend to the Hopi Peoples. He was a runner in the honored Hopi tradition, which originally was centered on spiritual and ceremonial reasons, as in the Basket and Snake dances. Being able to run was also extremely important in times of warfare in the early days. Hopi runners were used to run to and from the enemy country to spy and retrieve items of personal use for their ceremonial fires, to weaken the enemy.

The role of running in Hopi history and culture was, in the beginning, imperative to their life-style and survival. The practical side of this was being able to run down the animals they needed to kill for food and to search for other foods far from home. The Hopi were and still are known for being able to run great distances at high speeds. They had no cattle, horses or burros so had to rely on their own fast and fleet footed runners.

Running was also a source of entertainment and competition between neighboring villages. This was a way to prove their strength and fortitude. The Hopi believe that running is good for the body and mind and rejuvenates energy. Being farmers, their gardens were not always close to the villages so families sent their runners out to gather the produce and get it back in time for meals.

In 1680 the Puebloans faced a threat to their way of life and their survival when the Spaniards invaded their lands. The Hopi sent runners with messages to other pueblos to warn the people and to prepare for attacks which saved their lives and their homes. Running, and being able to run great distances at sustained and fast speeds had become an extremely important asset to the safety and survival of the Hopi.

In the early part of the twentieth century the running became more focused on physical fitness and sports. Out of this culture and from these proud peoples came an Olympic champion that set a U.S. record in the 10,000 meter race that held for 52 years! Louis Tewanima ran right into the pages of Olympic history with a phenomenal record setting race! With his teammate, Jim Thorpe, the Olympic games became a very exciting and amazing event in 1912.

Both Thorpe and Tewanima trained under the legendary "Pop" Warner at the Carlisle School. Tewanima, after hanging around the track team, finally convinced "Pop" that he could run. Warner gave him a chance to run in competitions for the school and so began one of the most fascinating sports careers in Arizona history.

True to his peoples tradition, Tewanima was a distance runner. He began winning 10 to 15 mile races. In 1908, after winning the cross country race at U. of Pennsylvania, Tewanima represented the United States in the Olympics in London, England. Tewanima finished ninth in the marathon.

When Tewanima returned to Carlisle, he and Thorpe became teammates and started beating top colleges in the country time after time in track and field. Thus began the legendary path to world setting records. Together, these two Native Americans brought pride and glory to their peoples and the USA!

They live on in our memories and hearts for all time. Louis Tewanima died in January, 1969. Due to his failing eyesight, he did not know he was walking towards a cliff that plunged 70 feet down. Louis fell to his death at the age of seventy-seven when returning home from a religious ceremony. Sixteen years after Thorpe passed into the land of his Ancestors, Tewanima, as he did in the 1912 Olympics, followed his teammate to glory.
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To learn more about the 1912 Olympic winners, you may purchase the recommended books from the Amazon links below.

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