the pathstar blog

SAVE THE DATE!! Our documentary “From the Badlands to Alcatraz” has been selected for the 34th annual American Indian Film Festival. It will screen Wednesday, November 11, in the noon program at the Embarcadero Center Cinema, One Embarcadero Center, San Francisco.

It’s happened!! Our seventh annual PATHSTAR Alcatraz swim took place October 12. Cheered on by the crowd who were on Alcatraz Island for the Indigenous People’s Day sunrise ceremony, Tamatane I’atala (Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine RIdge, SD), Nakina Mills (Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, SD), Terry Mills (Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, SD) and Odin Peter-Raboff (Gwich’in Athabascan from Interior Alaska) jumped from the M/V Dauntless and, with an escort of swimmers, rowboats, kayaks, paddle boards, and power boats, swam the crossing successfully.

The Alcatraz swim was the culmination of our 2009 San Francisco based program which included practice swims in the San Francisco bay, hiking up and down San Francisco hills, walking the Golden Gate Bridge, Pilates, yoga, meditation, kayaking, visits to ER Taylor Elementary School and Presidio Hill Elementary School, nutrition education and food preparation. Always, special thanks to the South End Rowing Club for the enthusiastic community welcome to the PATHSTAR guests. Huge thanks to everyone who donated, coached, taught, piloted, shopped, cooked, shared so generously of time and wisdom and generally cheered us on. Your energy, enthusiasm, and contributions make PATHSTAR a vibrant healthy community.

Dear PATHSTAR friends and supporters,

We want to express our appreciation for your continued encouragement and support. Huge thanks to everyone who was able to join us at our fundraiser on May 15 at the Fior D’Italia Restaurant in San Francisco! Your energy, enthusiasm and contributions made the event a vibrant and successful occasion.
Our seventh annual PATHSTAR Pine Ridge/San Francisco program will be taking place October 5-12.

The Alcatraz swim will take place on October 12. We will bring another varied group of Lakota people from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and other communities to participate in a week of events focusing on healthful life style and nutritional habits culminating with the swim from Alcatraz.

Our guests will take back their experiences and ideas to help influence change in their communities. We ask for your contributions and support to help make this year our best yet. We have had various offers of help and encourage any of you who are interested in volunteering for the program this year to get in touch with us. We do not want to leave anyone out so please let us know if you would like to help and in what capacity.

More here.

The next Alcatraz swim is set for Monday, Oct. 6, with an estimated start time of 7 AM. Read the story in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Read the rest here.

And check out biographies of the swimmers here