Freshly washed Wrangler jeans with shiny silver belt buckles. Coors Light and Michelob Ultra are on sale at concession stands. It could have been any of the 650 professional rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Cowboys Association (PRCA), the oldest and largest group of rodeos, attended by 6 million Americans each year. But instead, it was the Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR), which was held recently in Las Vegas. The contestants were members of 574 Native American tribes, and most of the 20,000 participants were Native Americans as well. At one afternoon performance, the Apache national anthem was sung. “Where's the Navajo?” The announcer boomed as he warmed up the audience.
Although historically marginalized, Indian rodeo is thriving, with more than 100 separate events organized across the country. The sport is very popular among tribal people: Although Native Americans make up only 3% of America's population, the INFR includes 3,500 cowboys and cowgirls, about half of the PRCA's members. Local competitors are becoming increasingly prominent in mainstream rodeo as well. Among the biggest stars are Dakota Lewis, a bull rider (pictured), and Derek Begay, a roping rider, who will compete in the PRCA National Finals Rodeo, which will be held in December (also in Las Vegas).
For many on rural tribal lands, rodeo is more than just a sport. It's “one of the few opportunities in Indian Country to get out, make a living, and get an education,” says Beau Foucault, a retired bull rider and president of INFR. Unemployment among Native Americans is more than double the national average and hovers around 50% on some reservations. With jobs scarce, bull riding and roping can provide income and even bring college scholarships.
But rodeo isn't just a “ticket to the resort,” although its financial rewards are real and attractive. (INFR paid out more than $1 million this year.) It's also a celebration of the fact that many Indians have long been cowboys and “cowboys.”
This sport is often associated with white cowboys. But modern rodeos, which began in the 1880s and 1890s, were originally a “multicultural, multilingual space,” says Rebecca Schofield, an associate professor of history at the University of Idaho. The rodeo brought together European immigrants, Mexican vaqueros, freed blacks, and Native Americans.
The name rodeo comes from the Spanish word rodear, which means “to round.” Regular rounds to sort and grade cattle led to competitions to see who could rope and ride the horse with the greatest skill. In 1888, a rodeo in Prescott, Arizona, was the first to charge admission and among the first to award prizes. By 1922, the rodeo had arrived in Madison Square Garden. With the United Cowboys' rodeos in the early decades of the twentieth century, some organizations explicitly excluded blacks and Native Americans, who were often relegated to separate events. By the late 1940s, the stereotypical rodeo cowboy had become “white, straight, and very masculine,” according to Ms. Schofield.
The INFR provides a forum for Native Americans to network and be in the rare majority at rodeo. “It's definitely a gathering of nations for Indian cowboys,” says Megan Lunak, a member of the Blackfeet tribe. With poverty and mental illness common on reservations, the rodeo is a celebration of “resilience.” It's also “a way to feel free,” because it facilitates travel, says Delphine Red Shirt, a lecturer in Native American studies at Stanford University.
Indian rodeos provide training for competitors to be beaten and beaten while developing the skills required to succeed in the high-paying mainstream rodeo circuit. The INFR is “getting more Indian cowboys to get out there” rather than “just chasing their local rodeo,” according to Beau Tyler Foucault, Foucault's son, a talented rider and bull rider.
Professional rodeos are beginning to embrace Native American participants, largely because tribal riders come with a loyal following. Many Native Americans know someone who rodeos or has rodeoed themselves. As the sport seeks to support its audience (with the rural white population shrinking), rodeo will continue to have more diversity. The rodeos of the future may look more like the rodeos of the past.
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