Native America

NARRATOR: Sometimes you race for more than being first across the finish line.

MAN: Go, Dillon, go!

NARRATOR: Sometimes you fight for more than just a knockout.

MARIAH BAHE: I'm building my own path and making a new path for other women.

(fires) NARRATOR: And sometimes an ultramarathon is more than how far you can run.

GIL VIGIL: They gave their lives for us to be here.

NARRATOR: These modern-day warriors are tapping into an ancient spirit, a power to fight against the odds for themselves, their families and communities, and their nations.

(spectators cheering) This is "Native America."

ANNOUNCER: As they get to tipi turn, it still looks to be Farmer Relay that are leading the way!

On down the stretch they come!

It's going to be Hernan Tendoy.

He's going to come all the way down here to the... NARRATOR: It's the National Indian Relay Championship.

ANNOUNCER: As they come in, he's coming in... NARRATOR: With deep roots in Native warrior tradition, teams risk life and limb in a spectacular competition of speed, skill, and courage.

ANNOUNCER: Narsis Reevis!

NARRATOR: This year, a new team is getting ready to hit the track.

They're from the Flathead Reservation in Montana.

And their rider is 15-year-old Dillon Irvine.

Dillon will need to master a dangerous skill: leaping from one horse onto another.

LLOYD IRVINE: His other shoes look good, I checked his feet.

They all look good, his hoofs, so... NARRATOR: His father, Lloyd, helps him train.

LLOYD IRVINE: This is his first full year racing, so we're really new at it.

But as far as horses, I was raised around them all my life.

Relay's a big commitment.

So we have to juggle a lot with their schoolwork and, you know, with us guys practicing every day and feeding every day, and hauling hay, you know, all that stuff comes together.

So, it's, takes the whole family to get everything done.

DILLON IRVINE: When I get up in the morning, got to check their water, make sure it's full.

Then when I get back from school, I check their water again.

(murmuring) DILLON IRVINE: Pick their hooves, brush them down, make sure they're all good.

NARRATOR: Dillon's team is Dancing Boy Express, formed with his friends Jordon, Thomas, and Talon.

I'm a front holder, so I have to hold the horse before, so he can jump on.

If the horse isn't in control, he has a bad jump, then we'll get behind on that.

These, these horses are good train, so...

They'll stand all day long.

Yeah, this... TALON ADDISON: Tiny right here.

DILLON IRVINE: This guy right here.

TALON ADDISON: He will stand all day.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

THOMAS ADDISON: I switched over to a mugger.

When he goes for an exchange, he jumps off the horse he came in with.

And I have to catch the horse.

So when he jumps off and I catch the horse, he gets on another horse.

And I give him the horse he just jumped off of.

So, it's kind of... And that horse that usually starts is the one that's so fired up, and he'll just kick.

He'll throw his head around.

And if you don't catch them and they start running away... THOMAS ADDISON: You get disqualified.

...you get disqualified.

The only thing going through their mind is "go."

It's just the... Yeah.

Yeah, it's just the impact of the, they just want to go.

You get stepped on, take a hit, but... (chuckles) You know, my grandma always says that, "Take a hit?"

And she'll be sitting there.

She'll be scared, but we can take a hit.

We, we usually... We usually wrestle around, so, you know, we're, we're good.

(birds chirping) TALON ADDISON: Heads up, Tom!

LLOYD IRVINE: You're gonna be coming up, probably about 25 miles an hour, hit him twice.

As soon as you see Thomas, go ahead and come right at him, come in down, focus right at him.

Then, when you jump off, pop off, land on your two feet, jump right on.

Thomas, face him that way.

Okay.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Indian Relay is won and lost... LLOYD IRVINE: Two laps.

NARRATOR: ...in the exchanges between horses.

The boys spend hours practicing every week.

LLOYD IRVINE: You're riding the fastest horse on Earth.

These thoroughbreds, they're strong.

They're built to run.

But after the first lap, it's anybody's race, because it really depends on the dismount and you getting back on.

LLOYD IRVINE: Oh, nice, perfect.

DILLON IRVINE: It's so unpredictable.

If you trip, you could get run over, you could... stomped on.

(Lloyd Irvine exhales) DILLON IRVINE: You just got to time it perfectly.

LLOYD IRVINE: Way to get back up, sticking with it.

One, two, and on.

NORRIE IRVINE: The horses done a lot for our family and our community.

(horse whinnying) They have brought a lot of healing, especially within our family.

We have had a lot of traumatic events that have happened in past years.

NORRIE IRVINE: My husband was a basketball coach.

And during his tenure coaching for those two years, we lost, um, several students to suicide.

And our son Dillon, he had, he was so traumatized from that.

He went from a really outgoing, just a happy-go-lucky kid to...

He just really shut down.

NARRATOR: The community has experienced a number of suicides.

They're taking efforts to help address this public health crisis.

Starting Dancing Boy Express is the Irvine family's way to help.

NORRIE IRVINE: Deciding to bring in horses here, that really made a change in Dillon.

He just started to start to be our son again and be a, you know, happier kid.

And I really feel that brought a lot of healing to him.

LLOYD IRVINE: I tell the boys what their old ones used to go through.

"They paved the way for you to be here today.

"So, you need to follow in their footsteps.

"And that's, you know, "spiritually, mentally, physically.

"Just do your best, never give up, never... Our people never gave up."

NARRATOR: That power to never give up is warrior spirit.

It's in the heart of a young man, fighting under the weight of trauma, to not only survive, but to win.

ANNOUNCER: We're waiting for the high sign.

He drops the flag and there they go!

(crowd cheering) NARRATOR: It's in the punch of a young woman and her dream to honor her ancestors in the ring.

Serve her nation in the military.

(fires) And go for gold in the Olympics.

And it's in the sound of runners' feet on ancestral land, passing forward the memory from generation to generation of those who fought and died to protect a way of life.

VIGIL (speaking Tewa): NARRATOR: Here in Tesuque Pueblo, people gather to commemorate the first American Revolution.

(Vigil speaking English softly) NARRATOR: Not the one that started in 1776, but rather the revolution of 1680-- the Pueblo Revolt.

(speaking Tewa): NARRATOR: Gil Vigil is the executive director of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council.

He leads this 25th commemorative run, honoring the day Pueblo fighters defeated the most powerful empire in the world, doing it in total secrecy and by running.

(speaking Tewa): (cheering) VICKIE DOWNEY: Today, with the younger ones, it's important that they know that our people had suffered in order to be here today.

LEANNA LEWIS: When we have this particular event, I find it, like, a source of strength that I didn't know existed, um, and I, I really want to kind of honor, um, those who came before me.

CAMILLA LEWIS: Being a part of a community that stood up against colonization, we've had to work really hard to maintain our traditions, maintain our ceremonies and our language.

NARRATOR: The Pueblo Revolt is the first successful uprising against a colonial power in North America.

It was organized by sending runners over 100 miles-- that's four marathons-- carrying a secret message encoded in a knotted cord.

Two of the runners were captured by the Spanish, tortured, and killed.

They were from Tesuque.

VIGIL: When I'm running, I'm thinking about Catua and Omtua, and the fact that they were from our pueblo and that they gave their lives for us to be here and doing things that we're doing.

NARRATOR: The Pueblo Revolt continues to this day through running, and in the battle of who gets to tell the story and how it's remembered.

In Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the story is memorialized with heroic monuments to the Spanish conquistadors.

But Pueblo artist Jason Garcia depicts the conquistadors as the Pueblo people see them: as savage invaders.

And he does it in a graphic novel style.

(woman speaking Tewa) (people shouting and fighting) (whip cracking) (ax slashes, man screams) NARRATOR: Cutting off the foot of the men was an atrocity striking at the heart of Pueblo running traditions.

It planted the seeds for the Pueblo Revolt.

The Spanish will learn that inner strength, warrior spirit, can defeat the largest foes.

It's a lesson Mariah Bahe learnt from an early age.

MARIAH BAHE: When I was little, my brothers were all into boxing, and I would come to the gym with them, but I wouldn't practice because my dad didn't want me to.

JOHN BAHE: I said, "No, you don't need to box.

"You can go play volleyball, play basketball, be a cheerleader, you know, do, do something else."

(electric signal beeps) MARIAH BAHE: I always thought that everything that my brothers could do, I could do better.

You're hitting low-- pinpoint.

MARIAH BAHE: So it kind of bugged me that they were boxing and I wasn't.

JOHN BAHE: She goes, "No, I'm going to box.

I'm going to box, I'm going to box."

We fought.

(both grunting) MARIAH BAHE: We fought for a couple of years, but...

I won.

(chuckles) NARRATOR: Her winning streak continues.

At age 18, Mariah Bahe is a seven-time national amateur boxing champion.

Head movement!

NARRATOR: Now she's got her sights on representing the U.S. and Navajo Nation... (both grunting and exhaling) NARRATOR: ...going for gold at the 2024 Olympics.

Head movement.

NARRATOR: Her coach is her dad, Johnny Bahe.

JOHN BAHE: She's my princess.

And that's where her team name comes from, is Team Princess.

NARRATOR: Johnny's great-uncle, Lee Damon, a World War II veteran, learned to box in the service.

Now you're sweating!

NARRATOR: When he returned home to Chinle, Arizona, he found many in the community struggling with gang violence and drug abuse.

He built this gym to teach his nephews the sport and keep them safe.

JOHN BAHE: My dad picked it up, said it saved his life, you know, kept him out of trouble, kept him in the gym, away from gangs, away from alcohol and drugs, as well.

Eventually, I took over.

You need to jab and move.

MARIAH BAHE: My brothers inspire me.

I see them as my biggest competition.

(electric signal beeps) So I can overstep them or work harder than them.

JOHN BAHE: Step around him-- good.

Good body hit.

MARIAH BAHE: My first match, I remember, before going into the ring, I was crying because I was scared and I was nervous.

(grunting) When you move to your left, triple jab.

Jab, jab, jab, step over.

JOHN BAHE: Good girl.

MARIAH BAHE: After the first round, I was really calm, and then we continued to fight and I lost.

But I was happy because it was my first fight.

(grunting) JOHN BAHE: And I figured, a couple of fights down the road, she's going to get hit hard.

She's not going to want to compete no more.

You're starting to get tired, you gotta move your head-- that's part of your defense.

JOHN BAHE: She went to a national tournament.

JOHN BAHE: Good counter!

And she fought a young lady who threw the perfect hook.

Fractured her nose.

I said, "Okay, I guess we're done with boxing with her.

We'll keep up with my boys."

But once the nose healed, she was back in the ring.

(electric signal beeps) Good job, guys.

This is one of your fights here.

The one in South Dakota.

(chuckles) I love your entrance here, it's pretty cool, with the flag.

They never know how to say "Bahe."

I know.

MARIAH BAHE: When I was growing up, my mom was basically the only woman I had in my life.

She's my best friend.

She's the hardest worker I've seen.

And I cherish the times I have with her.

What were you thinking then?

I was scared.

Why?

Because she was older and she was bigger.

ELVINA BAHE: I mean, you can see it right there.

ELVINA BAHE: I push my daughter and my kids to go off and go do things.

I tell her, "Don't, don't let a man work for you," you know?

"Be your own boss and make your own money "and buy your own house.

Do it for yourself."

I know it wasn't easy, but... (laughs) You made it look easy.

ELVINA BAHE: She wants to be the first Native American female to compete on the United States boxing team in the Olympics.

MARIAH BAHE: The Olympics has always been my goal, since I had my first fight.

JOHN BAHE: Her goals, her ambitions have pushed her a long ways.

She's only 18, she's a seven-time national boxing champion.

(fight bell ringing) I've seen her compete with the top females in the nation.

And I've heard them say, "I'm going to knock out "this little Indian girl.

I'm going to stop her."

At the end of the fight, Mariah's still standing.

MAN: Mariah, you ready to go?

MARIAH BAHE: Yeah.

Let's go, Mariah.

Three, four...

Beat Cater.

JOHN BAHE: Now she's getting ready to go into the Marines.

She goes to the high school, she trains with the, the other Marine recruits out there.

MAN: Get it, Mariah, pull.

MARIAH BAHE: I made the choice to do the Marines because they have a lot more opportunities.

Come on, you're doing good.

MARIAH BAHE: And for boxing, I would do more training and, like, harder work.

One more, one more!

Let's go, Mariah!

NARRATOR: While Mariah trains for boot camp... ...Dillon and his team are about to go head-to-head with the best in Indian Relay.

LLOYD IRVINE: We're heading towards the National Indian Relay Championships in Blackfoot, Idaho.

They say that's where it all began.

So, you know, we're really excited to go there and race against the best in Indian country.

NARRATOR: The Shoshone-Bannock tribes host teams from more than a dozen Plains Indian Horse Nations.

They're competing for $40,000 in prize money.

ANNOUNCER: Who's ready for heat number four of the relay?

(crowd cheers and applauds) We're here, we're hot and ready to trot.

We've got Indians from all over right here, ladies and gentlemen.

All over.

NORRIE IRVINE: Before each race, I'm pretty sick to my stomach.

I get really nervous and high anxiety.

DILLON IRVINE: Me preparing before the race, you know, what goes through my head is, "I hope I can make a clean exchange.

I hope I can get a good start."

ANNOUNCER: Let's rock and roll!

(crowd cheers and applauds) NORRIE IRVINE: Here comes our boys.

ANNOUNCER: All right, they got them on, ladies and gentlemen.

We're waiting for the high sign-- he drops the flag and there they go!

(announcer calling race, crowd cheering) LLOYD IRVINE: Dillon!

Wasn't ready!

Lookit.

NORRIE IRVINE: Come on, Dillon!

(announcer calling race) NORRIE IRVINE: What the hell?

ANNOUNCER: Pushing on the inside looks to be Young Money!

And on to tipi turn we go!

(crowd cheering and applauding) Still looks to be Brew Crew holding it down!

NARRATOR: Dillon trails badly after a poor start.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, let them hear you!

(cheering) ANNOUNCER: Down the stretch we come!

NARRATOR: He can still make up ground with a good exchange.

ANNOUNCER: Here comes Brew Crew!

NORRIE IRVINE: Slow down!

Slow down!

Go, Dillon!

NARRATOR: But he comes in too fast, thundering well beyond his teammates.

ANNOUNCER: Everybody else is having a hell of a time!

NORRIE IRVINE: Stay with it!

Stay with it, Dillon!

That's my boys!

Stay with it, Dillon.

ANNOUNCER: ...looks to be Blanket Bull in the Fort!

LLOYD IRVINE: Go, Dillon, go!

(cheering and applauding) NORRIE IRVINE: Go, Dillon!

Go!

(announcer calling race, crowd cheering) (announcer calling race) DILLON IRVINE: If things don't go the way I want them to go, you know, I just try to keep my best attitude.

Be a good sport about it.

You just gotta ride hard and do your best.

LLOYD IRVINE: Come on, Dillon!

NORRIE IRVINE: Run up and grab him, run up and grab him!

Good job, Thomas!

NARRATOR: Dillon loses more time on his second exchange... Come on!

NARRATOR: ...while the other teams lap him and finish the race.

LLOYD IRVINE: Come on, Dillon!

NORRIE IRVINE: Get going, go, go!

There we go, Dillon!

(cheers) ANNOUNCER: There goes Dancing Boy, there, headed on out, they got one more lap.

Here's Blanket Bull, ladies and gentlemen.

Blanket Bull.

NORRIE IRVINE: The start is very important.

Very important.

Flag goes in the air, he needs to get on.

NORRIE IRVINE: So, and that's what happened?

Okay, oh, well.

It's all right, though-- tomorrow, new day.

Tomorrow.

BOTH: Tomorrow.

(crowd cheers and whistles) ANNOUNCER: Dancing Boy, with Dillon Irvine.

NARRATOR: Dillon and Dancing Boy Express finish last.

But they'll get another shot in a second relay tomorrow.

Among the runners of the Pueblo Revolt commemorative run is Christian Gering.

He's one of the fastest long-distance trail runners in America, covering distances of over 60 miles in less than eight hours.

GERING: I just so happen to have a passion and a gift that aligns with running.

I've come to understanding what that means to me as a Pueblo person, putting intention and breath behind my footsteps and where I'm running, and the landscapes I run over.

NARRATOR: For Christian, ultramarathoning is a passion.

But running for the Pueblo people in 1680 was the key to organizing the revolt.

And it's here, in Taos, 80 years after the Acoma Massacre, that the revolt was planned by a mysterious leader named Po'pay.

Ilona Spruce has lived in Taos her whole life.

Hey, Ilona!

It's good to see you.

So good to see you.

SPRUCE: Taos is known for being over 1,000 years old.

We had the Spanish come in in the mid-1500s.

The first church was built by 1619.

And by 1680, because of all the religious persecution, the Pueblo communities wanted to come together and revolt against the Spanish.

I've been told Po'pay was hiding out up here.

He was here.

Like, that's what's so, like, mind-blowing about where we live, is that we still have actual homes that he was probably in.

It was his plan to get the pueblos together to revolt against the Spanish.

I wanted to bring you here because this is one of the main water sources that the Pueblos utilize not just for resource, but for transportation, as well.

This is our connection to the other pueblos.

The Rio Grande runs through every other Pueblo community, too.

So how would have the runners utilized the, the river to help spread the message to the other pueblos?

We always had traditional pathways down in this area.

And running culture was definitely a part of who we were at the time.

NARRATOR: From Taos, Po'pay sends out runners to dozens of pueblos spread out over 1,000 square miles.

They each carry a knotted cord with a secret message.

(woman speaking Tewa) (people fighting) (men screaming) (people shouting and fighting) (man grunts) STEVEN COLLINS: I want you to pull the rifle back into your shoulder just as tight as you can.

Not too much to where you're, you're shaking or anything like that, but you want it tight into your shoulder.

It helps to absorb recoil.

Are you ready?

Yeah.

Shooter, stand by.

Fire.

(fires) (bullet hits target) Remove your magazine.

NARRATOR: Boxer Mariah Bahe is getting a head start on her basic training for the Marines.

Place your weapon down on the deck.

All right.

NARRATOR: Her father, Johnny, has brought her to train with family friend and Army veteran Steven Collins.

COLLINS: I've noticed that you like to hold that magazine well.

That, that's a really good platform to hold.

Um, it allows you to bring everything a little bit more tight.

And you're a boxer, so you naturally, that's how you want to grab your weapon.

NARRATOR: These days, Steven is a SWAT team leader and instructor for the Gallup Police Department.

He's showing Mariah how to fire an A.R.-15, the civilian version of the M16 or M4 she'll be using in the Marine Corps.

COLLINS: But when you're breathing, your, your rifle also starts moving around.

So what I want you to do is, wherever you feel comfortable, hold your breath, put it on fire, and then squeeze the trigger.

(fires) (bullet hits target) How did that shot group feel this time?

It felt good.

Look at that, look at that group!

They are touching!

That is perfect.

That's, like, Marine Corps standard right there.

Haven't seen groups that tight in a long time.

NARRATOR: Mariah's last three shots are so accurate, they fall almost on top of each other.

That is really outstanding-- that's amazing.

Try it again?

Yeah.

All right.

(murmurs) COLLINS: If you're a Native American, it's a really proud thing to do is to serve your country.

It's in our blood, you know?

The, the warrior mentality, the warrior spirit.

(fires) JOHN BAHE: On my dad's side, all his mother's brothers were, you know, served in the military, and they were all World War II veterans.

My dad's uncle was one of the original 29 code talkers.

NARRATOR: Mariah's great-uncle Lowell Damon was one of 29 Navajo who were recruited in World War II to create a secret military code using their native language.

In the Battle of Iwo Jima, it was put to the test.

(man speaking Navajo) (guns firing in background) (explosions bursting) NARRATOR: That message took 20 seconds to send.

(exploding) In English code, it would have taken 30 minutes.

(explosion pounds) Navajo, a language that had been banned in schools, helped win the war and save thousands of American lives.

MARIAH BAHE: It makes me feel proud to be following their footsteps.

I was really nervous because I never shot a big gun like that.

Um, I shot my dad's .22 once, and I just, I don't really like guns or handling them.

Your feet should be in the same place.

MARIAH BAHE: But I'm...

I guess I'm pretty good at it.

(laughs) JOHN BAHE: I was worried about her when she gets to boot camp and have to do that type of stuff.

I'm not worried no more.

Just three misses, that's amazing.

It's these lower ones.

You start to gain that confidence, you start to get a little bit cocky, you let your guard down, you know what I mean?

Then you start getting careless.

Especially with, with things that you don't expect missing.

But everything up there, okay?

All where they're supposed to be at, because it requires your concentration, because they're further away, or they appear to be further away because they're smaller.

Make sense?

The way it is in combat.

Obviously, you know that's the way it is in boxing.

Just because it's a bigger target, slower, you know, less experienced, that doesn't mean you let your guard down and get cocky.

85%.

Sharpshooter.

DILLON IRVINE: One person I looked up to is Narsis Reevis.

There's a lot of people that are really confident on their horses, they, they know their stuff, and they're, they're really good at riding.

And they've been doing this for a long time, and since they were little, too.

(crowd cheering) ANNOUNCER: Here comes Cedar Ridge, he's trying to catch him!

Nope, not today!

Narsis Reevis!

Counting Coup straight out of Browning, Montana.

(announcer continues, crowd cheering) DILLON IRVINE: Narsis Reevis, Chris Carlson, they've been the ones that have, like, really been helping me out along the way.

You know, they've been teaching me a lot.

REEVIS: How's your guys' day going?

Pretty good.

Real timid on that starter.

Feel all right?

Feel all right now.

Did you learn anything yet?

What'd you learn?

Don't follow the rules.

Rules are meant to be broken.

One guy's in the front of you, you better make sure you're already getting going.

You guys want to be that team that's in the front when starting a race, you know?

Like feeling that dirt in your face all the time?

(chuckles) Gets pretty tough after a while.

(laughs) I'd say you either want to put dirt in someone's face or eat it.

That's the choice you got to make there.

Just have confidence in yourself today, bud.

It's all about confidence.

Remember, your future girlfriend's probably sitting up in that crowd waiting for you, waiting for you to come in hot and make that one good exchange.

Hey... (laughs) Just keep trying, keep trying.

Watch videos, go over your videos.

Make, you'll see where you guys make mistakes.

You know, see where you can better yourselves.

'Cause I watch even videos now, like I just watched mine, and I was, like, "Holy (horse snorts), I came in slow.

I came in like a old guy."

(boys laugh) But you kind of have to teach yourself, you kind of want to want it.

You know?

'Cause nothing's given-- you got to want it in life.

Get beat enough, you eat enough dirt, you learn.

Mmm.

As long as you just keep trying, buddy, keep trying-- don't give up.

Tear it up, yeah?

Thanks.

Right up!

Now, you guys take care.

Sure, good team, good team, boys-- good team, good team.

(snorts) REEVIS: Deep confidence in yourself.

The horses can feel what you're feeling, you know?

If you're scared, they're gonna be scared.

(horse neighs) If you're calm, they're gonna be calm.

You know, that's what you want in your horse, being calm and confident.

It's just like a drum group singing together.

Everybody's hitting on time, at the same time.

It's like the horse with Dillon.

(man singing) (all singing) LLOYD IRVINE: It takes that, that spirituality with a horse and a human to come together as one.

It's really magic when that happens.

(singing quietly) (singing at full voice) (song fades) NARRATOR: The trail from Taos Pueblo leads south to Pojoaque Pueblo.

Ultramarathoner Christian Gering is joined by Gil Vigil, a former governor of Tesuque.

They're going to meet George Rivera, a Pojoaque Pueblo artist.

He created a statue to honor Catua and Omtua, the martyred runners from Tesuque.

The smaller-scale one that I did, I had them 3-D-scanned.

VIGIL: Mm.

And then we enlarged them in foam.

And then we put clay on and refinish them and do the final touches.

And then we made a mold of these, and then they would, uh, cast in pieces in bronze.

GERING: When you're kind of coming into the idea around representing these two, what, what were you, you know, envisioning?

They were innocent teenagers that were just...

They were their top runners of Tesuque, and they were to run Santa Fe and the Galisteo Basin and back to Tesuque in one day.

Let's go to the finished Catua and Omtua bronze here outside.

So this is life-size here.

The message that they're carrying from pueblo to pueblo in the Santa Fe area was a knotted cord.

And so the knotted cord, each knot represented a day before the revolt was to take place.

I have them on that day pulling out the cord and saying, "What does this mean?"

GERING: Mm.

RIVERA: And so, that's what I put into the psyche part of the sculpture is that they had to have questioned, "What, what does this mean when we're taking this "from pueblo to pueblo and showing it to the leadership in the pueblo?"

Similar to Catua and Omtua being asked to deliver this message, I was asked to make this sculpture.

You, you do what you need to do for your people.

And so, me working on this was really, like, the brotherhood that we have pueblo to pueblo.

It's about portraying our tradition and our cultural ways.

It's about our history.

The Pueblo Revolt preserved our way, our life.

If we didn't have the Pueblo Revolt, we may not have our lives today the way we do.

And so, because of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, Pueblo people still survive.

(man speaking Tewa) (men shouting, swords clashing) (sword slashes, man screams) (church bell ringing) PROTESTERS: Take it down!

Take it down!

(people shouting and clamoring) NARRATOR: Today, the struggle is how the dark past of Spanish occupation is remembered.

(crowd cheers) MAN: And it's coming down.

NARRATOR: Some monuments in New Mexico celebrating conquistadors are being removed in response to public protests.

And a plaza has been designated for the statue of Catua and Omtua in Santa Fe.

Santa Fe sits on the original homelands of Tesuque Pueblo.

And the site that we are standing on is right over the, the pueblo itself... Mmm.

...along with all the other buildings among Santa Fe that was part of Tesuque Pueblo in the day.

And we still called it Ogapoge.

VIGIL: The whole Santa Fe area is where Tesuque was located.

The cathedral itself, they built it there over a kiva to take away our culture, our religion.

Now we got to let our people and children know so that legacy will continue.

NARRATOR: But the installation of George Rivera's statue has been stalled since 2018.

RIVERA: I appreciate what many of the tribal leaders have done to go speak to the public about the Pueblo perspective and, you know, the fact that Santa Fe itself was Indigenous land.

All these things are important for people who live there to know.

It's not like they're asking for Santa Fe back.

They're just asking for people to educate themselves and have respect.

NARRATOR: Johnny Bahe brings his daughter Mariah to the Window Rock Navajo Tribal Park before she leaves for boot camp.

Here, a monument commemorates the World War II Navajo code talkers who paved the path to victory in the South Pacific.

JOHN BAHE: These are the original 29 code talkers.

There's your grandpa, Lowell Damon.

This is where the legacy starts.

You being a Navajo, this is part of your heritage.

Now, when we come this way and we see this gentleman over here, your grandfather's father-in-law, Mr. Roy Notah, he's the one that built your gym.

All these men that I, I talk to you about, they're all related to you.

That's your family.

They took an oath to serve their country, just like you taking the oath to serve your country.

When you graduate boot camp, they're all gonna be there.

You keep those guys in mind of what they sacrificed to push you on to finish your military career.

Whether it be just four years or a lifetime of it, you give it 100%, just like you did in your, in your boxing career.

Never give up.

MARIAH BAHE: I feel like I've built this role myself with the help of my family.

I feel like I'm building my own path and making a new path for other women doing this.

JOHN BAHE: Finish this dream of yours and come back and prove to each and every person that doubted you that you can succeed.

Even as when you went to boxing, I tell you, "Win, lose, or draw, I'm proud of you."

Same with this one.

I'm proud of you.

Before you start, I'm proud of you.

You understand?

Just like through your boxing, everything, you're gonna succeed.

They're gonna give you a lot of titles in the military.

There's only one title you will ever have with me, that's my daughter.

My princess.

(softly): Come.

(sniffles) (exhales) NORRIE IRVINE (exhales): Okay, let's do this, guys.

(people talking in background) LLOYD IRVINE: Try to get to the inside.

(horse neighs) (horse neighs) MAN: Whoa.

Grab it, grab it, grab it, grab it!

LLOYD IRVINE: Whoa, boy, whoa.

Jump on your horse, Dil.

Jump on him.

Whoa, whoa, boy, whoa!

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa.

Don't be scared of him-- get up there.

He's okay.

You've jumped him all the time.

(neighs) Let's warm him up, he'll be all right.

He's all right, he's ready to go.

He wants to win today.

RACE ANNOUNCER: Folks, this is our last heat of the day for the relays.

Give them a round of applause.

Let's hear it for the riders.

(cheering and applauding) Whoo!

Let's rock and roll!

(cheering and applauding) (announcer calling race) NORRIE IRVINE: Go, Dillon!

Go, go, go, go, go!

(announcer calling race, Norrie Irvine exclaiming) NORRIE IRVINE: Come on, Dillon!

All right!

All right, boys, all right!

(announcer calling race) (Norrie Irvine exclaiming) (announcer calling race) ANNOUNCER: He's blowing in the inside lane!

There goes Yokoyama!

NORRIE IRVINE: Right here, boys!

Come on... ANNOUNCER: He's got the lead just yonder, yup!

(exclaiming) ANNOUNCER: He's off!

(announcer calling race, crowd cheering and applauding) LLOYD IRVINE: Come on, Dillon!

(audio distorts) (horse neighs) DILLON IRVINE: I don't know how other people see me, but I see me as trying to do something for my family and culture and this reservation.

Because there's, there's never been a relay team in, in Flathead.

(normal race audio resumes) (crowd cheering) NORRIE IRVINE: It's just been a really good experience for the kids in the community.

Whoo!

NORRIE IRVINE: And for me, it heals me because I just enjoy watching them be with the horses.

That brings me joy, because I see them doing something that makes them happy.

LLOYD IRVINE: Sometimes people, "We want to win, we want to win."

No, not us, we want best for our animals, best for our kids-- that's why we're here.

Representing our tribe, representing our community, representing our nation.

So, that's why we're here.

NARRATOR: To reach down into one's self for the strength to fight for more than just yourself.

That is warrior spirit.

It's a tradition that runs deep in Indian country.

RIVERA: The Pueblo Revolt is still being used today when tribes are saying, "Let's get together.

"Let's get together to, to fight this one issue, you know, because we're more powerful together."

VIGIL: Catua and Omtua had a responsibility, a duty, a charge to carry the message about a revolt that was gonna take place.

And now, here we are, many years removed from that, but we still carry on that throughout our younger generations and our older generations.

VIGIL: Yeah.

And I guess that's the significance of the Pueblo Revolt, that we do the reenactment of Catua and Omtua, because the blood of Catua and Omtua runs through our blood.

NORRIE IRVINE: The horses have brought a lot of hope to our younger people, and I want to continue to share that with others.

MARIAH BAHE: My favorite part of competing is the feeling it gives me, for everybody to know where I'm from, and to show my skills and to show that, um, how good of a person and boxer I am, and to, like, show the world.

PAM BELGARDE: Our story was filmed in the summer of 2022.

Sadly, it took a heartbreaking turn.

On November 23, young Dillon Irvine took his own life.

Over 300 people attended his memorial.

The community is continuing its commitment to address the tragedy of suicide on the reservation.

To help in that effort, and in honor of the memory of Dillon, Lloyd and Norrie Irvine plan to keep racing with Dancing Boy Express.

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