38. Yatika Starr Fields on Healing through Running, Artmaking, and Grieving the Changes that Need to be Made and Making Them

The Trail Ahead

Yatika Starr Fields, is a Painter and Muralist who lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yatika Fields is part of the Cherokee, Creek and Osage Tribes. He is also a Bear clan member. While attending the Art Institute of Boston from 2000 to 2004, he became interested in Graffiti aesthetics, which has been integral to his knowledge and process along with Landscape painting- and continues to influence his large- scale projects and studio works. His artworks explore the themes of family, community, and cultural diversity to illustrate its significance in societal norms for Native Americans. In addition, he is an avid distance runner who both runs and bikes ultra-marathon distances. He is involved with collective efforts to increase visibility, participation and acknowledgement of Indigenous voices, places and people in outdoor pursuits. He is a frequent collaborator with Rising Hearts, an indigenous led grassroots organization with a vision for a socially, economically and environmentally-just world, they often use running as a medium for activism and advocacy.

In this episode we talk about finding healing through running and returning home, the many shared parts of our identities, Yatika's advocacy efforts that have led to name changes of offensive race events and much more.

This episode is edited by Misty Avinger. Our theme music is by Alekesam, check them out via the link in our shownotes.

Links for Yatika Episode

• Yatika website
  https://www.yatikafields.com/
• Yatika on Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/yatikafields/
• Osage Nation
  https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/
• Muscogee Nation Website
  https://www.muscogeenation.com/
• Wings of America Website
  https://www.wingsofamerica.org/
• Rickey Gates - TransAmericana
  http://www.rickeygates.com/transamericana
• Ultra Trail Mont Blanc Trail Series (UTMB)
  https://montblanc.utmb.world/
• Why the Land Run 100 changed its name to the Mid South:
  https://cyclingmagazine.ca/gravel/why-the-land-run-100-changed-its-name-to-the-mid-south/
• Why the Name of a Major Gravel Event Is Being Changed: On the Dirty Kanza and the cycling world's reckoning with a racist, exclusionary past
  https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/kanza-name-change-indigenous-bike-race/
• Rising Hearts - Indigenous Led Grassroots Organization
  https://www.risinghearts.org/
• Jordan Marie Whetstone on Instagram and Website
  https://www.instagram.com/nativein_la/
  https://www.jordanmariedaniel.com/
• Know to Run Film with Yatika & Rising Hearts
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAbapAmkjFo&themeRefresh=1
• This Land Podcast - all about Oklahoma History and “Indian Country”
  https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/
• Alekesam (Our theme music!)
  https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JM2yzMSOgq7VeG6nKm3PY?si=YrIzzWOwSvCZ49oSutZZLw

Links related to The Debrief:

• The Body Doesn’t Know Miles, It Knows Stress by David Roche
  https://www.trailrunnermag.com/training/trail-tips-training/the-body-doesnt-know-miles-it-knows-stress
• Episode 16 of The Trail Ahead: Rest, Our Right Relationship with Nature, and Community Care with Laura Edmondson
  https://www.trailaheadpodcast.com/episodes/rest-our-right-relationship-with-nature-and-community-care-with-laura-edmondson