FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Before the 16 graduates from Ute Tribe Adult Education and the tribe's Uintah River High School walked across the stage to receive their high school diploma's Thursday night, they received inspiration and words of advice from Billy Mills. The 64-year old Mills is a successful businessman but is better known for winning an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000-meter run in the 1964 Tokyo Games. His run is hailed today as the fourth greatest race of the 20th century.
Mills grew up on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. His mother died when he was 9 and his father died three years later. He offered genuine insight into the lives of the mostly American Indian graduates seated in the front two rows in the West Junior High auditorium.
Mills was virtually unknown the day he sprinted the 60 meters to the finish line from his third-place position just in time to earn the surprise victory in a race that had never been won by an American. After he broke through the tape at the finish line he said he found himself face-to-face with a Japanese race official who repeatedly asked him, "Who are you? Who are you?"
And that is the same question Mills posed to the graduates on the eve of a new chapter in their lives. "Who are you? . . . Your achievements answer the question. Find your dream . . . live your life as a warrior. Help your community, learn the balance of humility, the power of giving, center those around your core of spirituality. Find that hidden gift and share it. The warrior seeks to be unique and to belong, to make a difference in society, to understand."
Mills said the greatest challenge facing Native American youths as they make their way in the world are society's perceptions of their culture. He noted that he is always referred to as "the Indian guy" by people who remember his accomplishment but not his name.
"I accept 'the Indian guy' with dignity, with pride. We need to deal with perceptions with the utmost dignity. I am going to say something to you, and if you follow it you will have wings of an eagle . . . you will find you have anger, pain, jealously, self-pity and hatred because of the way we are treated. But those things will destroy you."
He urged the Ute Indian youths and non-Indian youths to empower themselves through giving to others. "More and more Indian young people are empowering themselves and empowering others. Make a new goal for yourselves after graduating."
Mills said that at a young age he took his own culture and traditions and combined it with the Olympic theme, "Unity through diversity," to empower himself.
"I really felt as though I had wings . . . unity through diversity is not only the theme of the Olympic Games, it is the future of human kind. You have to take our culture, our spirituality, our diversity worldwide," he said. "Morality is the empowerment of humankind."
Mills is the spokesman for Christian Relief Services and has raised more than $300 million for the national charity. In 1984, actor Robby Benson starred in the motion picture "Running Brave," which focused on Mills' Olympic win and other accomplishments. Mills said he and Benson, who is Jewish, met during the filming and remain good friends.
Uintah River High was established four years ago through funding from the Ute Indian Tribe. It became one of Utah's first charter schools the following year.
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