A first-time marathon racer from the Hopi Nation made a dazzling debut at this year’s Los Angeles Marathon. 28-year-old Hosava Kretzmann was the first American to cross the finish line and finished sixth overall out of more than 22,000 competitors. Kretzmann is Hopi and Diné and grew up in the village of Hotevilla, though ne now lives in Flagstaff. He says his running is intrinsically tied to his culture.
Kretzmann spoke with KNAU’s Bree Burkitt about the essential quality of his sport.
So running started for you as a necessity, it sounds like. But, at some point turned, it turned into this passion — this endeavor. Tell me more about how that happened.
My culture is really based around running. Running is a part of a lot of our ceremonies. Hopi especially is really resilient. A lot of our creation stories include just the hardships that we endure as Hopi people, not only just to live out life, but also with our crops too. It’s symbolic of the people that we endure a lot and we don't give up and there's a word and Hopi that was taught to me when I was little — it's " Nahongvita." And I say it a lot during running during my work during just anything that applies to me in life. " Nahongvita" means to not give up — to keep going and to push through it. And so that's kind of kept me going. And, you know, coming off the reservation, I didn't think I'd ever run competitively, but running was just always a fun thing to do.
And how did you make the jump from running for fun to running competitively?
I just never really saw running as competitive until I did my first race and I did that when I was probably 10 years old. And I just kind of did it on a whim and I think I got first in my age group. It was one of the few things in my life that really challenged me physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, as well. So yeah, it just all kind of came together. I really just felt like, “Okay, I think I could keep doing this and keep doing it just for fun.” And now it's to the point where it's like, okay, now I'm a professional runner. There’s more that comes with that, but it still brings me back to my roots — my cultural roots, to my family roots — it's one of the ways I can really reconnect with my culture and reconnect with the Earth, too. Being here, you know, underneath San Francisco Peaks — or Dook'o'oosłííd — it’s really amazing to just be able to have that in my backyard and when I see that it reminds me of home, I know that my village is still there. Because from Hotevilla, you can see the San Francisco Peaks, and they're prominent. It’s always a good reminder of my home, and thinking about the Hopi Nation, thinking about the Dinè Nation. Thinking about all the youth too, that are similar to me that had these big dreams when I was just a little kid and never thought they would come true. And now it seems like it's more attainable than ever.
You recently placed sixth in the LA Marathon.
Yeah.
What was that experience like?
That was an incredible race and finishing sixth and being first American. I mean, it still kind of shocks me to say that now, because that kind of stuff doesn't happen to me. When I came to the last 400 meters, I remember looking at my watch, and just being like, "Oh, man, I'm not going to make it." But you know, it's that negative thinking that came up. And I was just like, "I gotta follow up every negative thought with a positive thought." So as soon as I said that, I said to myself, "my family's here — like my family hardly ever gets to see me race." So I was like, "No, I gotta finish this for them." And yeah, so I finished and I collapsed. And, you know, in that last mile, I told myself " Nahongvita." I said that to myself just once, just to remember why I'm doing this. I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for others. It really meant a lot to be not only Native American — and be Hopi and be Dinè — but also meant a lot to me that I had been running for a long time and no one's really noticed me. But this was something where a lot of people paid attention. And I think it brought a lot of positivity and hope and happiness to a lot of, you know, Native people, which I'm very grateful for, very thankful for . . . And just one little ounce of success is just all you need to keep going and, for me, now I can't stop.
Congratulations, and thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Ahéhee and Kwakwhay.
