Teen retraces great-grandfather’s escape route from an Indigenous boarding school in documentary

Native Americans have a long history as runners — but, for one high school student in rural Nevada, it was personal.

Ku Stevens’ great-grandfather escaped an Indigenous boarding school when he was just 8 years old, running 50 miles across dangerous terrain to get home.

Then, two generations later, he decided to retrace those footsteps. He called it a Remembrance Run. And now, that event — and the high schooler at the center of it — are the subject of a new documentary called “Remaining Native" that’s making waves in the festival circuit.

“I think about my great-grandfather running away over 50 miles from a boarding school. Ran back for his family, for the love of his people, his culture. He was running for me,” Stevens says in the documentary.

Indigenous filmmaker Paige Bethmann made the film. She joined The Show to talk about where this project began for her.

Full conversation

PAIGE BETHMANN: You know, my family is Haudenosaunee, you know, on my dad’s side, came from Akwesasne and my mom is Oneida. And, you know, this history of Indian boarding schools definitely impacted my family. My great-grandmother attended a Indian boarding school, and so when the news was coming out in Kamloops, Canada, of all the unmarked graves of Native children, it definitely struck a chord for a lot of different community members, but, you know, thinking about the stories that, you know, my grandmother told me and and just, you know, the memories that I had in my life growing up hearing different things about the boarding schools, it was definitely really emotional.

And a friend of mine who is Paiute, he shared this article with me that was written in a local newspaper, the Reno Gazette-Journal, and it was talking about, you know, the 17-year-old kid who was going to retrace his great-grandfather’s 50 miles, and, and that story and it was really moving.

Not only from that perspective of wow, like an 8-year-old had to traverse such a, you know, scary landscape so young, but really, I was interested in like, who is this self-aware 17-year-old kid who is going to do something about that and, and use his skill as a runner to bring his community together?

So, yeah, I did what any good Native storyteller does and I reached out on Facebook. And I talked to his mom and just shared a little bit about, you know, my background, where I come from, you know, my connection to this, you know, really horrible history, and just, you know, see if if they’d be willing to let me come out and and film the run.

Yeah. And then before you know, I was relocating to Nevada a few months later to continue to follow this story.

LAUREN GILGER: Moved across the country for it, right? You didn’t want to drop in. I mean, so tell us about Ku, about this 17-year-old kid, right, who was willing to do this big thing.

PAIGE BETHMANN: Yeah. You know, Ku grew up on the Yerington Paiute Reservation. He’s always been really good at sports. You know, he’s just won like everything from like the fish derby to playing in rez ball tournaments and, you know, just being a really gifted runner.

And, you know, he always had his eyes set on the University of Oregon. You know, he learned that it was the best track team in the country and always wanted to be a Duck and, you know, really became his main motivation. But, you know, he didn’t have like a big support system back home when it came to running and the competitive environment that it takes to become a D1 athlete. Like he didn’t have a coach, he was the only person on his cross-country team, you know, it was just very hard for him to access the spaces that he needed to become a competitive runner, you know, at that level.

But he had such strong heart and just pure dedication. He really like did everything he could on his own and, you know, his own parents, you know, being there to support him and act as his coaches and and just really, you know, give him that full shot.

But, you know, he’s he’s a really funny kid. He’s a quietly funny kid. He really loves to, you know, play basketball and play video games, and so Ku really became like a brother to me, you know. It was really nice being able to move out to Reno and just take that time to not only, you know, shoot the film, but to also, you know, play Super Smash Bros. at the end of the day and have him come over and eat all the food out of my fridge and and to really develop that, you know, brother-sister relationship.

LAUREN GILGER: Then there’s this 50-mile run, right, inspired by his great-grandfather, as you mentioned. Talk about the history of that and what happened to his great-grandfather because it’s such a remarkable story and in the sense that also, I think, you alluded to, that he survived and he was 8 at the time?

PAIGE BETHMANN: Yeah, so, the U.S. federal policy of assimilation, you know, severed relationships between children and their families to indoctrinate them into Western society. So, these schools were funded and regulated by the U.S. government and also religious institutions to be able to, you know, as like Henry Thomas Pratt said, “Kill the Indian and save the man.”

And yeah, it was a really brutal process, you know, government agents would show up in communities and round up kids and take them to these schools. And the school that his great-grandfather attended was the Stewart Indian Boarding School, which, you know, was in operation for 90 years. It opened in 1890 and closed in 1980.

And so, Ku’s great-grandfather, Frank Quinn, when he was 8, he went there and he managed to escape and run 50 miles, which is not just a straight shot down the road, it’s over an incredibly landscape. It changes in elevation, you know, it’s very hot, there’s wildlife out there, it’s the conditions are really, you know, something that you can’t imagine, you know, 8-year-olds needing to navigate.

But he had to do that three times. You know, he was taken back to the school the first time and the second time and then finally, I guess, the school decided that he wasn’t worth time to keep, you know, bringing back in.

So, yeah, it’s, it’s a heartbreaking story, but it’s also one that really shows you, you know, one, like how connected he was to that landscape and, and how he was, you know, had these survival tactics being so young, but being so able to like survive out there, and then also the legacy that he left behind, you know.

A lot of children didn’t make it home from that school, and there’s a cemetery on that campus. And there are folks who, you know, suffered great trauma, you know, from sexual abuse to physical abuse, and, you know, I think when we understand about his great-grandfather who, you know, then became a tribal councilman and also, you know, was a good community member and spoke Paiute and, you know, would go hunting and share his game with the rest of the community. Like he really was able to pass down these values and traits to Ku’s father and then, you know, down to Ku.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. I mean, in so many ways, like it’s a sad history and a very hard one to tackle. But I feel like a lot of what you’re you’re talking about and maybe and what you’re getting at in the film is the the resilience that’s come out of that, from this, you know, this 17-year-old, but from this thing he inspired.

PAIGE BETHMANN: Yeah, absolutely, you know, it’s it really shows how Ku, using his skill as a runner to bring people together, and to create the space to be able to talk about these issues and the experiences in a way where we could also, you know, eat food together and laugh and experience joy, and to cry and to just have this this opportunity to have a safe environment.

And I think it really shows that, you know, there is hope for healing to happen. And and it’s really through just being able to be your own Indigenous person and to celebrate that because, you know, for so long, it was it was, you know, you’re told you should not be.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. So, you filmed this, you know, four or five years ago. Where is Ku now? Did he make these big goals happen?

PAIGE BETHMANN: Yes, spoiler alert, I guess, for the film. But he did, he got recruited by the University of Oregon as one of the first Native American runners to be on their track and cross-country team. He ran there for two years, and then he decided to take a year off, and then was ultimately cut from the team, sadly.

However, a coach from Washington State University who had wanted to recruit him when he was a freshman, you know, reached out and he was able to transfer, and now he’s a senior at Washington State University. He’s a Cougar now instead of a Duck, but he’s doing phenomenal, you know. He just ran a sub-4 mile — for any runners out there knows that’s an incredibly fast. I can’t even do that on a bike probably. But he’s studying art and anthropology and is interested in perhaps a career in politics or even getting his law degree to continue to advocate for his community.

LAUREN GILGER: Oh wow, there you go. Well, lots to watch for from him as well. It sounds like, all right. Paige Bethmann, film producer, director of the new documentary “Remaining Native,” joining us. Paige, thank you very much for coming on and congratulations on the film.

PAIGE BETHMANN: Thank you so much.