Neilson Powless
and his sister Shayna discuss their Native American heritage, and
the role it played in their upbringing.
*An earlier edition of this story referred to Neilson Powless
as the first tribally recognized Native American to race the Tour
de France. It has been amended to refer to Powless as the first
tribally recognized Native North American to race the Tour de France.
As children, Neilson
Powless and his sister Shayna
often traveled during the summers from their home in Roseville,
California to Green Bay, Wisconsin. With their parents, Jack and
Jeanette, the family visited friends and relatives and absorbed
an important part of the Powless family heritage.
Jack Powless is half Oneida, the People of the Upright Stone, and
one of five Iroquois Nation tribes. The Oneida originally inhabited
what is now central New York. But it's now prominent in two locations
in Ontario, Canada, and on the Oneida Nation near Green Bay.
Neilson and Shayna are 25 percent Oneida, the minimum percentage
required for tribal membership. They learned much of what they know
about their Native American ancestry from their grandfather, Matthew
Powless, who died in 2015 at age 80. Jack Powless's mother had Cherokee
ancestry and his father's second wife is of Menominee descent.
A longtime resident of the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation near
Bowler, Wisconsin, Matthew Powless was a paratrooper in the U.S.
Army and worked as a carpenter, pipe-fitter, and welder. He was
a military boxing champion who, for many years, owned a gym and
trained youth boxers. He was also a skilled smoke dancer, a tribal
tradition often showcased at intertribal celebrations.
"I was quite close to my grandpa, although as I got older and had
to travel for sport I wasn't able to visit him in person as much
as I would have liked," Neilson Powless said. "Whenever I called
him he would always tell me how proud he was of me and how much
of a warrior I was for pursuing my dreams."
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Shayna Powless races
for Team Twenty20. Photo: Zwift
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Powless, who made his grand tour debut at the 2019 Vuelta a España
where he finished 31st overall, has had a successful Tour de France
debut, highlighted by fourth on Stage 6 and a fifth on stage 8.
The Powless family does not flaunt their Native American heritage.
Rather, it's often an understated element of their family history.
But Neilson's surprising Tour de France selection placed his heritage
in focus. Dan
Ninham, a family friend, Oneida tribesman and journalist, researched
and told the Powless family the just-turned age 24 (Sept. 3) rider
is the event's
first Native American participant. In truth, riders from South
American with native heritage have raced the Tour, but Powless is
believed to be the first rider with native North American roots
to race the event.
"I have not researched in-depth to the extent of the truth of the
statement, but I would be surprised if it were not true," Neilson
Powless said. "I believe that I am the first tribally recognized
member of an indigenous people's nation (competing in the Tour de
France). In the eyes of the government, I am not Caucasian. In fact,
I am a Native American."
Jack Powless, a formerly nationally ranked age-group triathlete,
met his future wife while they were both serving in the U.S. Air
Force and stationed in Guam. He said his son's team wasn't aware
of the family heritage. Many friends still aren't aware.
"I sent (team director Jonathan Vaughters) a Twitter message and
said, 'Hey JV, here's a trivia question for you. Is Neilson the
first Native American to do the Tour?" Powless said.
"He responded and said he never knew it was part of our heritage.
I responded and said, 'Welcome to the club, man. Nobody really does.'
I heard he said something to the team that night at dinner."
Jeanette Powless doesn't have Native American heritage, but she
embraces the family's background. The Powless's home in Roseville
has its share of turtle art. It's the symbolic representation of
earth beginning on the back of a turtle as well as good health and
a long life.
"I was sad I couldn't deliver Neilson a necklace or bike turtle
charm," said Neilson's mother, a track coach at American River College
in Sacramento and a former marathoner who competed for Guam in the
1992 Barcelona Olympics. "But we couldn't travel to France due to
the pandemic. We have been blessed with amazing ancestors to watch
over him now."
While important, the Powless family keeps its heritage in perspective.
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Neilson Powless has spent
much of the 2020 Tour de France on the attack. Photo: Tim
de Waele/Getty Images
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"Jen (Jeanette) kind of always jokingly says, 'Nobody would ever
know that he's Native American because he gets his pigmentation
from his mom,' " Jack Powless said. "He gets his lighter color from
her."
When he was younger, Jack Powless tried to become fluent in the
Oneida language while conversing with his father, but it was too
difficult. He also tried to teach his children Oneida words but
to no avail. The family doesn't have the strong dancing skills of
the family patriarch, either.
"It's such a difficult language to pick up," Powless said. "It
almost feels like you're talking from the back of your mouth. It's
difficult to get the proper enunciations."
Neilson Powless remembers listening to his grandfather and father
converse in their native language and he watched in admiration when
his grandfather practiced native dancing and smudging (the burning
of sacred herbs).
"One of the reasons I loved visiting was to watch him crush a smoke
dance," the youngest Powless said. "He was a champion."
Shayna Powless, 26, who competes for TWENTY-20, lives in Florida
and Ohio, with her partner Eli Ankou, a defensive tackle for the
Cleveland Browns who has Ojibwe tribe heritage. Powless conducts
clinics on and near reservations about the importance of exercise
with a focus on cycling.
With Ankou, she has a non-profit organization called the Dreamcatcher
Foundation. Its goal is to empower youth through sports and raise
awareness and assist indigenous girls and women in crisis. The Nike
N7 program, which supports Native American youth sports, is a sponsor.
"It's such an honor that he (Neilson) gets to represent Native
Americans in such a big event," said Shayna Powless. "And I am sure
he feels the same way about it. I am glad more and more people are
starting to find out that he does have this Native American heritage.
"To be Native American is something I am very proud of. If someone
asks what my ethnicity is, I usually say Native American first.
I always try to highlight the fact that I am native. I think it's
important."
The Powless family based in California still has relatives living
on the Oneida and Stockbridge-Munsee reservations. Visits are less
frequent than when Shayna and Neilson were young. But the connections
remain and the heritage reigns.
"My parents made sure my sister and I had a nice relationship with
our family living on the reservations," Neilson Powless said. "It
always made me pay attention a little more in history class when
we were going through the colonization and Civil War in America
because the Oneida people are so ingrained it that history."
James Raia, a freelance writer in Sacramento, Calif., has reported
on cycling since 1980.
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