I believe Billy Mills is a great man, not only because he is a very famous, but because he is an inspirational Indian role model. Billy Mills has thought and showed many that anyone, no matter how poor or rich, that they can achieve success. He encourages, and helps, youth to go for their dreams. He is very wise and I respect him very much. Billy Mills is a legend and hero to the Indian community and that is another reason I choose to do some research about him.
Billy Mills was born on June 30, 1938, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. He was Oglala Lakota Indian and given the Indian name .
Makata Taka Hela, meaning "Love Your Country" but traditionally translated into English "Respects The Earth". Like mostly all the Indians living on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Billy grew up in poverty. His mother was one-quarter Lakota and died when he was seven years old. Billy's father was three-quarters Lakota and died when Billy was twelve and left him orphaned. He was half Indian and white; a mixed blood is what others on the reservation would call him. He began running to escape the pain and emptiness he felt inside. He once said, "I was a mixed blood and an orphan. You couldn't get much lonelier than that.".
He began attending a boarding school on the reservation while he lived in his old car. His sophomore year he started attending Haskell Institute, an Indian boarding school, in Lawrence, Kansas. Always was running and while in high school he discovered his talent for long distance running. After that he began to break a number of high school track records. From Haskell he received a scholarship to the University of Kansas in the late 1950's. Billy soon was trying to find acceptance with peers, faculty, teammates, and even his coach Bill Easton. Running is what he was there for and he proved it. In 1960, he won the individual title in the Big Eight Conference's cross country tournament and was conference champion in the two mile race in 1961.
