{"id":29397,"date":"2022-11-03T14:03:37","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T18:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=29397"},"modified":"2024-11-20T11:46:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T16:46:45","slug":"underscore-news-young-native-runner-family-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/11\/03\/underscore-news-young-native-runner-family-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Underscore.News: Young Native runner honors family legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Running<\/a>
Ku Stevens makes a prayer offering and places orange flowers on a grave after running 50 miles through the Nevada desert to the Stewart Indian School Cemetery in Carson City, Nevada. Photo by Jarrette Werk \/ Underscore News<\/figcaption>\r\n\r\n
Running Down a Dream<\/div>\r\n
Ku Stevens\u2019 great-grandfather escaped an Indian boarding school, repeatedly, by running 50 miles through the desert to get home. Decades later, Ku runs to honor that legacy, and his speed has earned him a spot at his dream school.<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, November 3, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Jarrette Werk<\/div>\r\n
Underscore News<\/a>\/Report for America Corps Member<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThis story originally appeared on Underscore News<\/a>.<\/strong>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nGravel crunches underfoot as Ku Stevens glides across the Nevada desert. The muted brown tones of sagebrush-covered hills behind his family\u2019s home turn gold, illuminated by the rising sun. Ku runs the same trail his great-grandfather did as a child, for a different reason. His great-grandfather ran to survive. Ku runs to remember.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nKutoven \u201cKu\u201d Stevens, an 18-year-old Yerington Paiute tribal citizen, has always been told his legs would take him places. Running is in his DNA. At the age of 8, Ku\u2019s great-grandfather, Frank \u201cTogo\u201d Quinn, used his own legs to escape the Stewart Indian School in Carson City, Nevada. The young boy ran 50 miles through the Nevada desert, finding the way back to the Yerington Paiute Reservation by memory alone. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nQuinn ran that journey on three separate occasions before government agents gave up and let him stay home. Had he not run away when he did, Ku might not be here.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\"Running<\/a>

A framed photo of Frank and Hazel Quinn sits on the credenza in the Stevens home. Delmar Stevens remembers his grandfather as a hardworking, gentle man who never spoke about his experience at the Stewart Indian School. Through relatives, Delmar learned about Frank’s hardships and later shared the dramatic history with his son. Photo by Jarrette Werk \/ Underscore News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nA report released in May by the U.S. Department of the Interior found \u201crampant physical, sexual, and emotional abuse\u201d at the 408 boarding schools run by the government between 1819 and 1969. The investigation found burial sites at 53 schools so far \u2014 a number that is expected to rise. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nToday, Ku uses his own legs to continue his great-grandfather’s legacy, running to bring awareness and healing to those impacted by Indian boarding schools. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cHe ran for his life, but I run to preserve and to remember him,\u201d Ku said. \u201cHis need to get back to his family allowed me to share his story and other stories like his on a national level.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn August, Ku held the second annual Remembrance Run, to honor the children who survived Indian boarding schools and to remember those who never made it home. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe original run, in 2021, came in the wake of the discovery of mass unmarked gravesites at Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada. Ku and his parents dedicated the run to his great-grandfather and those like him.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\"Running<\/a>

Ku Stevens and his coach Lupe Cabada lead runners up a hill at mile 20 of the 50-mile journey to Stewart Indian School, which was spread over a two-day period. Photo by Jarrette Werk \/ Underscore News<\/figcaption>

<\/p>\r\nThe run garnered national media attention from the likes of The New York Times, making the cover of the The New York Times Upfront Scholastic Magazine, and inspired the feature-length documentary Remaining Native. (Editor’s note: This story\u2019s author, Jarrette Werk, is an associate producer for Remaining Native.)\r\n

<\/p>\r\nKu\u2019s last couple of years have been busy. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nHe became the fastest cross-country runner in Nevada the same year his high school almost canceled the running season because he was the only person on the cross-country team. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nAfter that, he became a two-time Gatorade player of the year, winning spots for both track and cross country. He graduated with honors and secured a walk-on spot to the cross-country and track team at the University of Oregon, which he has dreamed of attending since he was 10 years old, when he overheard two men talking about the school. They said it had one of the best running programs in the country. The idea crystalized. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nKu\u2019s father, Delmar Stevens, says Kutoven is a Paiute word that translates to \u201cbring light from the darkness.\u201d \r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWhen you look at that name, and the responsibility that comes with it, it’s big,\u201d Delmar Stevens said. \u201cBut I see Ku is up for that; he has been doing that already.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Raising a champion<\/div>\r\n\r\nKu grew up on the Yerington Colony, at the edge of the rural farming town of Yerington, Nevada. His father, Delmar Stevens, and mother, Misty Stevens, met while working for the Yerington Paiute Tribe. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nHis mother says she was surprised to find out she was pregnant with Ku, because she thought she was done having children. She believes having Ku later in life allowed the family to meet the needs of a budding champion.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI think if we had Ku when we were younger, we wouldn’t have been ready to guide his little soul to do the things that it needs to do,\u201d she said. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nKu\u2019s father recalls running with his son in his stroller. The toddler would climb out and run alongside him. Seeing the boy\u2019s enthusiasm for running, the couple decided to enter their son into his first half-mile fun run at the age of 4. Stevens says Ku sprinted the whole way. That was the day they watched their son win his first medal.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cHe’s a competitor,\u201d Delmar Stevens said. \u201cKu doesn’t like to be that guy that comes in second.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWhen he was just 8 years old, Ku won his first 5k. He beat everyone who entered, including the adults. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n\"Running<\/a>

Misty Stevens, who suffers from short-term memory loss, says documenting memories on Facebook and in journals helps her to remember her son. “I write stuff down and and then I can go back and look at it, and look at it, and look at it until I can get it stuck in my head and it doesn’t disappear,” she said. “Because I’m so proud of my son, and I don’t want to forget. I do not want to forget what he’s done and who he is.” Photo by Jarrette Werk \/ Underscore News<\/figcaption>\r\n\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Overcoming obstacles<\/div>\r\n\r\nLiving in a small town, Ku didn\u2019t have access to the running coaches available at larger schools. Instead, the cooking teacher coached cross country. English and P.E. teachers coached track. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cNone of them specifically focused on running,\u201d Ku said. \u201cIt was always kind of just me taking whatever workouts they gave me and just multiplying it, or just trying a lot harder than what they told me to do.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nEven so, he kept winning local races and adding to his medal collection. He began to think about where his legs could take him.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn eighth grade, Ku found the coach he had been looking for. Workout plans created by college runner and volunteer coach Phillip Cruz helped Ku improve dramatically. He broke the five-minute mile in eighth grade. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nThings were looking up, until the pandemic hit. Meets were canceled and his sophomore running seasons were gone. To top it off, Cruz decided to enlist into the military. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nKu was on his own once again. \r\n

<\/p>

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