Nov. 2, 2016 SPOKANE, Wash. – For the second straight season, Gonzaga and Nike N7 are partnering in celebration of Native American Heritage Month. During the men’s basketball game on Nov. 18 against Bryant University, like last season’s game against Northern Arizona, the Zags will wear customized turquoise uniforms. The turquoise color is symbolic of friendship and fellowship in Native American cultures.
Led by Sam McCracken (Fort Peck Sioux), N7 represents Nike's long-time commitment and mission to inspire and enable two million Native American and Aboriginal youth in North America to participate in sport and physical activity. All teams who partner with N7 wear turquoise uniforms during N7 games.
With four Native American tribes in the Spokane area, and 29 in the state of Washington, GU and Nike N7 are teaming up to leverage basketball as a way of showing Native American youth that physical activity can have a profound effect on future generations. The N7 philosophy is inspired by Native American wisdom of the Seven Generations: In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation.
“Basketball is one of Indian Country’s most beloved sports,” observed Gonzaga’s Director of Native America Studies Laurie Arnold (Colville), PhD, “so celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Nike N7 extends our engagement beyond campus and connects Gonzaga to communities across the U.S.”
The partnership between Gonzaga and Nike N7 illustrates one aspect of campus engagement with Indigenous communities. Through GU’s College of Arts and Sciences, undergraduate students can earn a minor in Native American Studies. This program was designed to foster a deeper understanding of ancestral and contemporary Native American communities on the Columbia Plateau as well as to reinforce Gonzaga’s intellectual and spiritual connection to this homeland.
Gonzaga’s business school offers an MBA in American Indian Entrepreneurship (MBA/AIE), a program which was established in 2001 with the generous support of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. The program strives to prepare leaders to effectively manage and support sustainable business on American Indian reservations. Since its inception, it has given over 50 alumni the skills necessary to make a positive impact on their tribes and reservations.
About N7
N7 is Nike’s long-time commitment and mission to inspire and enable two million Native American and Aboriginal youth in North America to participate in sport and physical activity. The N7 philosophy embraces the Native philosophy: “In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
After nearly a decade of partnership with tribes across North America to support programs aimed at physically active lifestyles, Nike deepened its connection to the Native American community in 2007 with the launch of N7 beginning with the Nike Air Native N7 shoe. The N7 collection followed in 2009, to celebrate Native American and Aboriginal culture and to raise awareness for the N7 Fund, which has raised more than $4 million for Native American and Aboriginal youth sport programs.
