McCracken, Native American business manager for Nike Corp., has succeeded on many business fronts. For now, he's best known as the man who put the kick into Nike Air Native N7, a shoe specifically designed for Native athletes - and aspiring ones.
“He's a native Montanan and someone who's really been successful working in that corporate world and still embracing his Native culture and Native values,” said Jerry Lamb, Montana's economic development specialist for tribes. “He's that role model we all need.”
About 250 state employees attended the training seminar, titled “How to Work Effectively with Indian Nations and Tribal Members.”
“The governor has said time and again, this state won't raise to the levels we want unless everyone raises together,” said Hal Harper, policy director for the governor's office. “That's what this is about. It's about understanding each other's nuances, in this case cultural differences. It's about acceptance. With this many people going back to their departments, hundreds of people, hopefully you will see a change.
“This is by far the biggest turnout we've ever seen for cultural awareness training. What we saw this morning were speeches and presentations by highly placed people who are Native American.”
McCracken stood out among the best of Indian Country's inspirational leaders.
“Gov. Schweitzer was looking for an icon in the Native American community who could really articulate how Native people could navigate through a non-Native world,” said Anna Whiting-Sorrell, family policy adviser for the governor's office. “What better role model than Sam?”
As the governor's diversity training committee planned the daylong event, members asked their non-Native counterparts this question: “Who represents Indian Country to you? Who are those people?”
Sorrell said the committee expected to hear people ask for Natives such as actor Rodney Grant or poet-novelist Sherman Alexie. But people had remained enthralled with news that Nike was manufacturing shoes for Indians.
“Since he was the inspiration, we knew that was the person we needed to bring in,” she said.
The Air Native - released in September - is available only through Nike's Native Business Program, which works through Native communities to provide shoes at below-market costs to tribal health and disease prevention programs.
But even before the N7 came to life, McCracken - who carries his great-great-grandfather's tribal name “Pacunda” - enjoyed icon status in Native America as Nike's Native American business manager.
McCracken is best known for his passion in serving Native people.
“He's always had it together,” said Florence Garcia, a cousin from Fort Peck. “He's never sought glory and fame. He always has a good spirit about him and always remembers where he comes from. I was overwhelmed with how modest he is.”
Garcia said she's proud to see the “greatness from our ancestors” manifest within her cousin. “It's wonderful.”
McCracken credits his “grandfather” Joe Day, as his inspiration. “He instilled in me core values,” he said. “One of those messages was, ‘Don't forget to follow the path the Creator is going to create.' I've always kept that in me. ‘You are going to work in the white man's world. The Creator will take care of you.' ”
In turn, Pacunda has taken care of others.
“He has this urge to get things done for his people,” said his aunt Joyce McGeshick. “For instance, who would ever think of Nike, one of the biggest corporations in the world, ever designing Native American shoes?”
McCracken's main message to the group Wednesday was to embrace change.
He rose to a position within Nike the old-fashioned way. He was working for Nike in Oregon, where he helped distribute Nike products to retailers around the country. He described himself as “an everyday Joe.”
But when a relative asked him how to get Nike athletic shoes into the hands of tribal members, he took the quest to heart. He wrote a business proposal and decided to take it to corporate leaders. He figured he had nothing to lose and everything to gain in promoting health and wellness among indigenous people.
The rest is Nike history.
McCracken has since established Nike's Native American Diabetes Program and the Native American Business Incentive Program. In 2004, he received the Bowerman Award, Nike's most prestigious recognition, given to an employee who “remembers the man.”
“I'm overwhelmed and humbled to see what an individual can accomplish,” said Jack Burns, Nike's U.S. e-commerce sales manager and McCracken's boss. “He has found a way to get everyone's help. I'm talking about people in the highest reaches of this major corporation to the delivery guy who loves getting things up to him fast because he loves Sam. It's a gift. It's an ability to embrace everybody there who in turn want to embrace him.
“Everybody feels part of it.”
As he sat outside the meeting room in Helena, McCracken was sporting a pair of black, size 11 Air Natives.
“There's no finish line,” he said. “It's not over. I can look at the shoe and say we made our splash and move on. But there's more work to be done. The shoe, what it has done, is raise the awareness of what we need to go work on.”
Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@lee.net.
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