Derek Roberts, created a design for a new Pendleton blanket for the Nike N7 brand whose proceeds will benefit the American Indian College Fund.
Nike steps up to aid American Indian College Fund
Joins forces with Pendleton Woolen Mills
By Karin Eagle
Native Sun News Staff Writer RAPID CITY – One of the nation’s largest private providers of scholarships for Native American students has recently been selected by two well known brands to receive a generous donation. The American Indian College Fund, founded in 1989, has been “Educating the Mind and Spirit” of Native people and provides an average of 6,000 scholarships annually. The “College Fund” also supports the nation’s 34 accredited tribal colleges and universities located on or near Indian reservations. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. Seven years after Nike’s Native American division began, the Nike design team collaborated with various community experts and tribal leaders to create footwear specifically for the Native American community, called Nike Air Native N7. All proceeds from the Air Native N7, which is sold through Native American community centers and tribes, are given back to youth sport and physical activity programs in Native communities across North America through the N7 Fund. Beginning in 2009, Nike expanded N7 product to include a N7 collection available for purchase by anyone inspired by Native athletes and the N7 Fund. The N7 Fund is committed to creating early positive experiences in sport and physical activity for Native American and Aboriginal youth in North America. Organizations that support Native American and Aboriginal communities through sport and physical activity programming for youth can apply for the N7 Fund. “Even heavy kids can wear Nikes and know what Nike says, ‘If you’ve got a body you’re an athlete.’’’ We’ve got scholarships, tournaments, and now we’re getting our kids into professional sports,” says N7 Fund board member Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes. “Indian country needs a movement to overcome diabetes and obesity.” The new Nike N7 Holiday 2013 Collection features a unique collaboration between Nike and Pendleton Woolen Mills (PWM). The end result is a distinctive black and white blanket that is inspired by traditional Native American designs. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the blanket will go to the American Indian College Fund. When sketching out the initial artwork for the blanket, Nike N7 Collection designer Derek Roberts looked to traditional Native American dress for inspiration, specifically how patterns work together to create a garment. He started at the bottom of the blanket, with a smaller pattern of arrows that repeats and grows in scale towards the center and is a mirror-image pattern from top to bottom. “The goal with the artwork for the Nike N7 Pendleton Woolen Mills Blanket was to bridge the gap between heritage-based, traditional style and current trends in a way that would inspire the entire Nike N7 Holiday 2013 collection,” Roberts said. The center of the blanket design prominently features the Nike N7 mark—three arrows pointing back to signify past generations, three arrows pointing forward to signify future generations, and arrows in the center to represent the current generation. The arrows sometimes appearing as triangles or other shapes convey both movement and balance. The suggested retail price for the PWM Nike N7 Blanket: $298. Four other styles in the Nike N7 Holiday 2013 Collection were inspired by the Nike N7 Pendleton Woolen Mills blanket artwork, including a jacket, t-shirt and sneakers. Pendleton is an easily recognizable symbol of American heritage blended with the Native American culture found throughout the west. With six generations of family ownership since 1863, the company celebrates 150 years of weaving fabric in the Pacific Northwest in 2013. Pendleton owns and operates two of America’s remaining woolen mills, constantly updating them with state-of-the art looms and eco-friendly technology. Inspired by its heritage, the company designs and produces apparel for men and women, blankets, home décor and gifts. Since the Nike N7 collection launched in 2009, more than $2 million has been raised for Native American youth sport programs through the N7 Fund. Nike N7 and the N7 Fund are aligned with Designed to Move, a growing community of public, private and civil sector organizations (including Nike) dedicated to ending the growing epidemic of physical inactivity in America, specifically Native American youth. In 2000, Sam McCracken had the idea to sell Nike products directly to Native American tribes to support health promotion and disease prevention programs. McCracken grew up on the Fort Peck Assiniboine/Sioux Reservation in Montana. He went to high school in nearby Wolf Point, where his love of basketball sparked an interest in coaching. McCracken started his Nike career in 1997 as a warehouse worker at the company’s Wilsonville Distribution Center. Shortly thereafter, he was asked by Nike’s director of human resources to “revitalize the organization’s Native American Employee Network,” one of several Nike diversity programs. In 2000, Sam became the manager of Nike’s Native American Business. The Nike PWM N7 Blanket will be available at both Nike.com and Pendleton-USA.com. More information about the N7 Fund can be found, along with the application at www.n7fund.com. (Contact Karin Eagle at staffwriter@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission by Native Sun News
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