Can Chief Illiniwek get a pair?

September 26th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Native Americans don’t get too much run around these parts, except for when I’m proselytizing and ostracizing about Chief Illinwek. Trust me, as much as I hate (hated) the Chief, it looks like that fight is basically won, so we’ll not go down that road again. Instead, as today is unofficial minority coverage day, this caught an eye: Nike is making the first ever Native American-specific athletic shoe. Impressive:

Nike on Tuesday unveiled what it said is the first shoe designed specifically for American Indians, an effort aiming at promoting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates.

The Beaverton-based company says the Air Native N7 is designed with a larger fit for the distinct foot shape of American Indians, and has a culturally specific look. It will be distributed solely to American Indians; tribal wellness programs and tribal schools nationwide will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass it along to individuals, often at no cost.

Nike said it is the first time it has designed a shoe for a specific race or ethnicity. It said all profits from the sale of the shoe will be reinvested in health programs for tribal lands, where problems with obesity, diabetes and related conditions are near epidemic levels in some tribes.

Jerry Bread, outreach coordinator for the Native American Studies program at University of Oklahoma, said the idea was “fantastic” and addressed a core issue for tribes, though he was skeptical that the feet of people from so many tribes could be so similar.

“It’s an excellent gesture and I know it will get a lot of support from tribal people,” Bread said. “We stand to profit from it in our physical health and well being.”

Dr. Kelly Acton, director of the national diabetes program for Indian Health Services, said she was dubious of working with a corporation at first but said she was delighted with the result, saying Nike “bent over backwards” to design a shoe and respect public health needs.

The N7 name is a reference to the seventh generation theory, used by some tribes to look to the three generations preceding them for wisdom and the three generations ahead for their legacy.

As a mega-corporation, it’s been difficult for Nike to generate positive PR over the past, say, decade (I know: poor, pitiful megacorp, right?), but this is one of many steps in the right direction. Sweatshops are still just as bad as they were before … but maybe this swings a little karma back in Phil Knight’s direction. At the very least, you can grab a pair with your hot new Africa-themed fitted. Where cultural awareness and fly style meet, yo!