Learn how to be more like the great Jim Thorpe every day at TakeAction.BrightPathStrong.com.
Most people know Jim Thorpe as THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE ...but the lesser-known side of Jim and the thing that truly defines his greatness is the care he showed for others.
During the late 19th and mid 20th century, after over 100 years of “Indian Wars”, the United States Government sought to forcibly assimilate American Indian children.
They did this by displacing them from their homes, removing them from their families, and indoctrinating them in residential boarding schools where the phrase “Kill The Indian, Save the Man” was institutionalized.
The Founder of Carlisle Indian School, Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, believed that the destruction of the familial bond would enable these institutions to properly mold and “Americanize” these children.
Jim Thorpe was one of them.
“You know, the fact that tribes were not allowed to have their culture, their history, their religious beliefs, and changed so that we would be ‘part of the team’ -- it hurts.” –Mark F Brown, Former Chairman, Mohegan Tribe
As a teenager at Carlisle Boarding School, Jim saw many lonely young faces.
He came to know many students, including Dick Kassetta, an orphan, and the youngest student in Carlisle’s fraught history. Seeking to alleviate Dick’s loneliness, Jim would carry him around campus on his shoulders, insisting he still had family, and that Dick call him “Uncle Jim.”
”They say that historical trauma is ingrained in our DNA, and I feel like Jim felt that. He was like, ‘You know what? I gotta make something of myself.’” –Juanita Toledo, Pueblo of Jemez
“He stayed focused, he persevered, he was patient. I’m sure he struggled, but he never lost his determination.” –W. Ron Allen, Chairman, Jamestown S'Kalallam Tribe
That determination led Jim to being called the “World’s Greatest Athlete,” but he achieved something more transcendent. He took care of people.
In 1931, a picture of Jim Thorpe digging ditches was widely circulated in the newspapers with the headline, “See how low the great Jim Thorpe has sunk.” The true story behind that photo was that Jim took over doing manual labor for a friend for the day, at the future site of the Los Angeles County Hospital.
If someone asked for help, Jim was always there.
Seeking to alleviate the plight of others, Jim helped thousands of Native Americans locate housing and secure jobs in the movie industry.
At night, Jim led hunting trips into the Los Angeles hills to help feed Native families.
“...And I feel like this time, this era, it’s like we are unpacking a lot of that grief. And I think this is just one way to say like, ‘Oh, that’s what we went through,’ to acknowledge that our people had that experience. But then, flip it in a way where like, even though that happened, look at the magic that came out of that.” –Juanita Toledo, Pueblo of Jemez
After a lifetime of serving others, Jim Thorpe was given the name AKAPAMATA, the Sac and Fox word for CAREGIVER.
Live like Akapamata — learn how to be more like the great Jim Thorpe every day at TakeAction.BrightPathStrong.com.
