NCAI Sovereignty Run from Tahlequah to Sacremento

  • Faith Baptist Church, of Slick, held its third annual Sheldon Biggs Memorial Cloverlead Wagon Train ride on Sept. 29 - oct. 2. All together there were ten wagons and four to eight out riders who went out from the church and then back. It was a 20 mile ride each day with some camping and music held at night.
    Faith Baptist Church, of Slick, held its third annual Sheldon Biggs Memorial Cloverlead Wagon Train ride on Sept. 29 - oct. 2. All together there were ten wagons and four to eight out riders who went out from the church and then back. It was a 20 mile ride each day with some camping and music held at night.

    On Oct. 3, 2022, the 20th annual National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) sovereignty kicked off its journey from Tahlequah and will eventually span 1,787 miles to Sacramento, California. The run will end on Oct. 31, in Sacremento. Dozens of participants from Cherokee Nation and NCAI members, partners and Indian Country allies will participate in the walk and run.

    The Sovereignty Run calls attention to the erosion of tribal sovereignty on reservation lands, including raising awareness of the new attacks on tribal sovereignty in the face of the harmful Supreme Court decision in Castro-Huerta. The run also pays homage to Native Olympian Jim Thorpe and celebrates Jim Thorpe's winning spirit and hopefully the group will be able to bring Thorpe's Olympic medals home to Oklahoma.

    Nedra Darling, a co-founder of Bright Path Strong, said reviving the Sovereignty Run is a special way to remind the world of the collective power of Native people. During the Sovereignty Run, a 25-foot totem pole created by the House of Tears Carvers of Lumni Nation will travel alongside runners symbolic of honoring, uniting and empowering communities to protect sacred places, cultures and tribal sovereignty along the way.