Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Winds of Change podcast is centered on the people, places, history, and stories of Wyoming. We talk about identity, community, land, change and what it means to thrive in the state. How does someone identify with wide spaces and big personalities in small towns? Listen to folks from across our state share their connection to Wyoming and home. Or others who are pining for opportunities to invite change. And still, there are many voices who welcome the challenge. Making a life here means persistence. Some families have been here for generations and stay true, heads held high, through the blustery winters. Others are newcomers making sense of the unfamiliar winds the world continually blows in.
[00:00:00] Emy Digrappa: Welcome to Winds of Change. I am your host Emy Digrappa Winds of Change is brought to you by Wyoming Humanities. We share stories about the people, places, and history of Wyoming. The Winds of Change podcast warmly invites Native American leaders, thinkers, and storytellers. To join, to join us on this special series focused on celebrating the rich histories, cultures, and voices of Native American communities.
[00:00:32] And we are eager to include perspectives from across the nation. In this special series, we are celebrating Native Voices, and today my special guest is Connor Ryan. Born at the foot of the Rocky Mountain. Connor Ryan is Hunk Hunkpapa skier who blends adventure with activism. Guided by traditional Lakota knowledge.
[00:00:56] Connor seeks, sees skiing as ceremony, his way of honoring the sacred land through storytelling, film, and community engagement. He works to reconnect people to place and uplift the indigenous voices in the outdoor world. Welcome Connor.
[00:01:16] Connor Ryan: Thanks for having me on Emy
[00:01:18] Emy Digrappa: Oh, absolutely. I love having you on, and I'm so excited because, just knowing that you grew up, in a mountainous area and well, tell me about your journey.
[00:01:28] Like where did you grow up and how did you, become, ob skier and love the outdoors?
[00:01:36] Connor Ryan: I grew up on the front range of Colorado, so kind of all around the Denver and Boulder area. I lived in a lot of the suburbs in between and spent a lot of my weekends growing up, uh, camping and, and playing in the mountains as a kid.
[00:01:54] skiing was something I got to do, uh, kind of intermittently growing up, I guess I would say. Um, my mom's Lakota and my dad's, um, Irish from Ohio. Um, and he moved out here to ski and go to the University of Colorado. Um, my mom also attended the University of Colorado and it was my dad who got me into skiing.
[00:02:20] my mom is a notorious. Bad skier among the family. Um, like of all the family members, she is the least inclined to do that sort of thing. She's like a hot cocoa, uh, by the fire instead kind of person. And so, yeah, my dad taught me how to ski and I, I gotta do that some in, in elementary school growing up.
[00:02:43] And then, uh, just economically, it just like wasn't something. That was an option for me, uh, as, as I was a older youth, if you will, as I was in middle school and high school and stuff, I maybe gotta go. Uh, two or three times throughout that, that part of my life. Uh, you know, every couple years I'd maybe get a go once and be like, wow, this is, it's definitely something I loved and I, you know, was like naturally skilled at, um, but yeah, I didn't really have the opportunity to do and, um, you know, I also didn't, didn't have much of an opportunity growing up to, to be immersed in my culture.
[00:03:22] Um. Living, uh, on the front range of Colorado, I have, you know, kind of more of the, the urban native experience, which is like, you know, you, you get a, you get to see your culture maybe more than you get to experience and, and live it. And so, um, finding that that connection to the sport and to my culture were two things that kind of came hand in hand, uh, later on in my life, in my young adulthood.
[00:03:52] Emy Digrappa: How, how did your mom, work with you to connect you to your culture?
[00:03:57] Connor Ryan: Um, you know, like we've always known who we are and where we come from. Um, and so for me it was like really kind of her empowering me to go back and reconnect, I guess is the way I would put it, uh, when I was 21. I went to the, the Black Hills for the first time in my life and, um, well that may not be entirely true.
[00:04:24] I think I'd maybe driven through there on a road trip or something like that, but really went and spent time there for the first time when I was 21. and yeah, gotta meet folks who. Knew our culture, who gave me that opportunity to learn more things about, you know, where I come from. Um, and when I was there, I actually, well, I was at an event and I met other Lakota folks, um, and community from.
[00:04:52] Boulder who happened to have also traveled there for the same event. And so, you know, I, I went to the Black Hills for the first time to look for a connection there, but actually found a connection culturally that was, that was back at home where I lived as well. And so, yeah, my mom was just always a big part of, you know, giving me those, those stories about, uh.
[00:05:13] Her dad and about, you know, um, her side of the family. And then I was able to, experience sweat lodge, uh, Hanblecha, keeping fire for Sundance, things like that. And my mom was just always in my corner in those, in those sort of things. Always having my back, you know, watching my fire when I did my, my vision quest and things like that.
[00:05:36] And so, yeah, uh, I think that that part of it for me was huge. And then. Really like my, my mom, you know, she grew up in Los Angeles, which, you know, is far away from home in a, in a lot of ways. But I always look at her as like, despite not having like her roots in our homelands. Exactly. she just like so well embodies, the values of our culture and did that without even, um.
[00:06:06] Having someone to set that example for her. Um, and so, you know, like the generosity and just the family value that my mom has, I think is something that, that really like empowered me to see the world differently and, and set me up to have what I would say is like more of an indigenous worldview perhaps than um.
[00:06:29] You know, as opposed to maybe a, what someone would call like a, a Western worldview where my mom's just always been someone who takes people in, gives everything. That she can to, to provide for others and did that for me growing up. Um, 'cause you know, she had me as a single mom, uh, for a lot of her life, and she found a way to become a, a pharmacist and, you know, the matriarch of our family and all these things, uh, all on her own.
[00:07:00] And so that really empowered me. Then by the time I was, you know, a young adult, um. I was able to chase my dreams. Mm-hmm. Um, as opposed to when she was at that age in life, she was giving everything to my brother and I, and you know, she adopted my cousin and raised her as well. And so, yeah, she's kind of just that person who empowers other people's dreams through what she provides and so,
[00:07:26] That really set me up to be who I am and to be a skier.
[00:07:29] Emy Digrappa: What a great testimony to your mom. I love hearing that.
[00:07:34] Connor Ryan: Yeah, she's pretty awesome. It's great to get to share it. My birthday's right around the corner and so it, uh, it always reminds me that, uh, that, you know, the moms are actually the ones who deserve, I think, gifts when the birthdays come around.
[00:07:46] 'cause boy, they, they do all of the, a lot of the hard work, you know.
[00:07:50] Emy Digrappa: That's true. They do all the heavy lifting
[00:07:53] Connor Ryan: for sure.
[00:07:54] Emy Digrappa: Even if you don't see it all the time.
[00:07:56] Connor Ryan: Yeah.
[00:07:57] Emy Digrappa: From that journey and learning your heritage, learning your people, and you know, going to the Black Hills, how did you take that back into your life and really start to embrace your cultural heritage and then, become an adventurer and a skier?
[00:08:18] Connor Ryan: Yeah. You know, at, at first for me, I. I felt a lot of tension between being a skier and, and being Lakota and being indigenous, you know? Um, for a long time I looked at skiing as like this thing that I was like, oh, that's a, that's a white activity, if you will, with the air quotes around it. Um, and I think like, you know, it is associated with privilege in a lot of ways, the ability to be skiing and, you know, I think a lot of people.
[00:08:48] You know, places like, like Jackson and Aspen and things like that tend to tend to feed into that with, uh, some of what the culture, uh, around the sport is. but for me, you know, I, I grew up to and learned how to ski at a small ski hill, up the canyon from Boulder called Eldora. Um, it's just above a little town up here called Netherland.
[00:09:10] And when I was learning my culture, at first I was going to sweat lodge and it was up there in the foothills, in the Rockies here. And, um, it was just down the hill from, from Eldora was where we had our, our tpe and our sweat lodge. And there was a day that, uh, my uncle sent me to, to fill this bucket, um, for the water.
[00:09:32] Sweat lodge and you know, I, I dipped the, the bucket into the stream to fill it up. And I realized that, that that stream was the same water that was running off of the ski hill up above me and took that water down. And, you know, they poured on the rocks and sweat lodge and they're teaching me the lessons about, you know, mini water, his life, and, uh.
[00:09:59] I kind of had this realization that like it was me who was creating this, this separation, and I was learning about my culture, learning, you know, how deeply interconnected we are with, with all of I. Our relations in the natural world with all of nature, if you will. Um, and you know, the same water that brings me to life, brings a tree to life, brings all the animals, all the flying creatures, all the, all the beautiful things in the world are brought to life by water.
[00:10:30] And I realized that I. Skiing really for me was just this way of celebrating when the water falls from the sky and lands on the mountains and those mountains hold the water and that duration of time through which they they melt is what gives us our seasons, gives us our ecology all around us. And I started to see that, you know, like skiing and the.
[00:10:55] You know, knowledge that's in indigenous cultural practices weren't two things that that needed to be separate. And so for me, that was kind of where those walls started to come down. And I started to realize like, this is something I, I think more indigenous people need to experience. Skiing on our land.
[00:11:17] And at the same time, I think a lot of people who are out there skiing and are deeply in love with the sport don't realize how much deeper their connection to that could be if they knew the traditional ecological knowledge. That should come with being out in these places. And so I kind of from there on, you know, started to find a way to make that my mission in life of, of bridging those two worlds between people who deeply appreciate the land, um, through a sport and people whose whole culture is deeply understanding and appreciating the land and, and giving them access, uh, to this sport.
[00:11:57] So that, that really, that kind of became my purpose.
[00:12:01] Emy Digrappa: so I get it that you, skied a little bit growing up, but you didn't have the real, um, opportunities to, you know, maybe have a season pass and maybe go skiing every weekend. how did you cross that bridge? What did you do to say, okay, I can do this.
[00:12:20] you understand that it's money, right? Because I know I am. I live here and I grew up in Colorado, so I'm very familiar and it does have that, unfortunately, I don't say it's a stigma, but just this attitude that only people with wealth do this. And because it, there is a barrier. For people, who don't have wealth to be able to ski. because it's, it is money. It is money and it's a recreation. And how do you cross that bridge?
[00:12:58] Connor Ryan: Yeah, I mean, I think for me, I kind of, uh, it was really like about where I was putting my attention.
[00:13:06] I think like both within. My, the sport itself and like what part of the sport interested me. And then also where like maybe to a degree that was. Sort of foolish to someone else making it a priority within my life. And so, you know, the first ski gear I had was nothing impressive for sure. Um, you know, I remember my skis weren't quite the right, so were for a powder day, my jacket was held together with duct tape.
[00:13:39] Um, and I worked an entire summer and fall to have enough money left over to to. stash away and be able to afford a ski pass and some skis. And I got the cheapest ones on sale and the cheapest boots and the cheapest bindings and everything I could find. But I, I pieced it all together. and then for me, I found a lot of my joy in kind of swimming against the current.
[00:14:05] You know, in going out there, um, and at that time in my life, I had a job and I, I worked at night, um, and I needed something to do all day, um, in the afternoons and just a way to keep myself occupied and, you know, off of a screen and out of trouble and, and those sort of things in my life. You know, it was a time in my life where I was, starting to find my relationship to sobriety and getting away from all the things that, you know.
[00:14:34] Seemed really interesting when you're, you know, 18 to 21 in particular. Um, 'cause it was the year I was 21 that I both went to the Black Hills for the first time and, and started to really get involved in my culture. But also that was when I, the same, the exact same time that I got into skiing. And so, for me it was really about just like going out there and kind of feeling like the joy in like, I shouldn't be here.
[00:15:02] and, and I found a lot of just kind of little moments of victory of going out there and being like, Ooh, I skied past this guy with his fancy gear and like went flying by him. And I could, if I had the free time, it allowed me to be a better skier than maybe somebody who was working some, you know. Big deal job, who then could afford to go skiing.
[00:15:29] You know, that guy only gotta go on the weekends where I was out there four or five days a week every week. And so I was improving really quickly and I, I really enjoyed and savored kind of side of it. and also like for me, the part of skiing that was interesting to me was not like, these, you know.
[00:15:50] People staying in fancy hotels and, you know, having caviar and champagne, I was really intrigued by the kind of folks who were, you know, sleeping in a van down by the river across from the ski area. Um, and that, that was kind of where my fixation was at. And so as I got more and more into the sport.
[00:16:12] That's what I really enjoyed about that was like seeing that there was a big storm coming somewhere and I would road trip out in my old Toyota Prius and I would manage to stuff my six five self in the back of the hatchback and lay the seats down and snuggle up in my sleeping bag and I'd, you know, sleep in a grocery store or parking lot somewhere so I could wake up first thing in the morning and get the perfect.
[00:16:39] Strict powder run, you know? And that for me was like, kind of what my obsession became was, you know, I'd have. A hundred bucks to my name and be like, well, I can spend 40 of that on gas to make it out to this place. And I can eat, you know, beans and rice and potato chips for the duration of my trip, and I should be able to make it home just fine.
[00:17:02] And I'll get my next paycheck in a couple weeks and I'll figure it out from there. But in the moment, the only thing that really mattered to me was being where the snow was falling. Um, and. Just enjoying that to the, to the fullest. that kind of just gave me this sense of, I don't know, there's something rebellious about it.
[00:17:24] I think. You know, and I think as an indigenous person, there's a, there's something really cool I think about finding those ways to like transcend the system that wants to tell us what to do. And I think sometimes the best way to fly in the face of that is like. Relying on your relationship to the land to sustain you.
[00:17:44] And for me, like I don't, I don't know how to hunt. I didn't know how to, you know, make a teepee any of the things my ancestors knew how to do. But I was sustained by my relationship to the land through, through the joy that it gave me. Mm-hmm. Um, and, you know, it helped me find my sobriety, it helped me find my culture like, and so.
[00:18:07] In that way, I just, I took a lot of joy in being this, having this feeling of like, I'm probably the only native guy out on the mountain today, and I'm gonna burn my sea, burn my sage and my cedar before I go skiing. And I'm gonna lay down a little tobacco at the top of my, uh, ski run. And I'm just going to soak all this up.
[00:18:29] And this is what, this is what allows me to, to get by. you know, and I didn't have a lot of, a lot of purpose in the world, I think, at that time. And I felt a little, like, a little like aimless and rebellious and I just enjoyed that, that part of it. And I didn't, I didn't ever really imagine it would turn into something, something more.
[00:18:48] I was just living in the moment
[00:18:51] Emy Digrappa: that, that is excellent that you lived in the moment. And we should all do that more. I think we get so caught up. We forget, like live this moment, like, don't regret the past. Be, get, be grateful for right now. And that's such a good lesson to learn. And it's so great to hear you say that because you're so young.
[00:19:13] And how did you go from there into filmmaking?
[00:19:17] Connor Ryan: Yeah, once again, it was just kind of one of those, one of those gifts I think of sometimes you have to like open yourself up to the fact that you don't know in order for something like truly mysterious and miraculous to come into your life because people with all kinds of plans and definitions of how things should be, You know, you, you, if you have all that, you might not end up in a pl in a, in a space where, where a miracle could fall right in your lap. And so I think that's a lot of how it was for me. I, I first had the idea of making a ski film. Um, I believe it was my second blecher, which is a traditional Lakota vision quest.
[00:20:06] And that year I did that one, uh, over the Thanksgiving period of time, and it was freezing cold that year. And so I did my, uh, I did my inside of the sweat lodge in total darkness. and as I was in there, I had this, this dream, this vision making a ski movie that was about, uh, the, the kind of imperative.
[00:20:29] Of climate change looming over us as skiers and this need to embrace, you know, these traditional indigenous ways of being to get back and balance with the land. And so I had that vision and. You know, I just, at the beginning of that, that ski season, I was just starting to build a relationship with this organization, uh, Natives Outdoors, and I.
[00:20:58] I shared, you know, with with Len, who's like the founder of that organization, what my vision had been, I was like, you know what, like somehow I wanna make this thing, something like this happen. I know this can come to be. and from there, you know, he helped me be a part of a couple magazine articles, one of which was with, uh, Patagonia.
[00:21:20] It, it turned into, you know, like I, I gotta be on a episode of this really popular show within skiing called the, the 50 Project, uh, with Cody Townsend, who's a bit of like a, you know, the LeBron James of skiing, if you will. He is the biggest, one of the biggest names we got in this sport. One of the best to ever do it.
[00:21:40] And, I had a few people give me that platform and some folks saw like, okay, this guy's, maybe he's onto something. And so then I, I was on a, on a flight back to, Colorado from Omaha, Nebraska, and I had just. Exchanged a few, Instagram messages with a kid who would go on to become one of my, one of my best friends, um, and closest brothers, a Ute guy by the name of Bird Red.
[00:22:11] And, you know, I just got no conversation with him about being on Ute Land because for me, skiing in Colorado, I'm always on. The lands of the Ute and we just hit it off. We just had this spark between us of like, we had this back and forth kind of, of just like arguing about who's better and who's tougher between Utes and Lakota and like there was a fun energy to that.
[00:22:37] And at the same time we had a deep respect for each other's, you know, different cultures and that that kind of turned into. Me being like, we should make a film that that features myself and Bird and we should talk about the land. We should go beyond this idea of a land acknowledgement. 'cause it was at that point in time, that was, you know, 2019, 19, 2020, something like that.
[00:23:02] That Bird and I were having these conversations, That the land acknowledgement was starting to really be a, be a rising tide within the spaces of the outdoor industry and ecology and science. And people were starting to realize that that mattered, that shifted people's perception, and I wanted to take that even a step further.
[00:23:22] And so, yeah, on that, on on one flight, I, I put together a, a pitch deck for a movie, which was something I had. No idea what that was, but I was really lucky to have Cody Townsend as a friend and a mentor, and he'd sent me an example of, well, this was the pitch deck for the 50 project. And I was like, well, this is the best show in all of skiing, so if I can use this somehow to make something that translates my idea.
[00:23:49] And I did that and I sent it to, uh, a number of brands with. In the ski industry and a film production company and everybody kind of had this, this interest in it. And we found a way to come together and to, to make this film the following year, which became Spirit of the Peaks. Um, and it was an incredible journey and experience.
[00:24:10] The, the making of it. You know, I think the behind the scenes could be a whole, whole film of it. Its own. It was a great journey and I got to do a lot of amazing things with, uh, one of my best friends, uh, Isaiah, who's a Isaiah Branch-Boyle, he's a Ute, filmmaker. And, It just all fell into place kind of miraculously.
[00:24:31] And then the movie came out and was featured in film festivals and won all kinds of awards and. Did great online and yeah, it just was this, this experience of just like having a vision that was so far bigger than myself that I couldn't execute on my own and just everywhere I turned, I kind of met the next person, or the snow fell at just the right moment for us to, to make an incredible ski film that I think has had.
[00:25:03] Uh, a lasting impact, you know, not, not just on myself, but on the ski industry as a whole and what we've been able to do to, to bring more indigenous people into this space of skiing.
[00:25:14] Emy Digrappa: that, that is truly inspiring, that you've, you've followed your path, you followed your dream, and. You created something and it has lots of accolades with it. I think what's interesting to me is that, not just the what's next, but what is the impact that you want to make or you feel has made for young people in the skiing industry?
[00:25:45] Connor Ryan: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing for me is like skiing changed my life so much. Mm-hmm. Um, it gave me this ability to go out into the world and, you know, I'm, I'm a back country skier. Um, in, in large part, that's my favorite expression of the sport. Not to say that I don't really cherish my days inbounds at, at.
[00:26:11] Winter park where I live, I definitely do. that ability to look out into the world and see a mountain and see a line on it that you want to ski and it's just this formidable relative in the distance, and then you approach it and you find a way. Step by step and little by little to find your way up a mountain and then down it, and it takes years of knowledge and relationship building, to know how to do that.
[00:26:40] And to me, it was that process that then turned into like, okay, how do we make a movie? Okay, how do we build. A program to get other indigenous people on the mountain. Like everything to me, after that became a mountain, this step-by-step process of how do I climb it? When's the safe time to do it, how do I make my way down?
[00:27:07] What kind of team will I need around me to pull that off? And I realized that, that, that. Process of like recognizing what a challenge is and envisioning the way that you have to execute in order to pull that off was so synonymous for making any other dream come true in life. That it was the mountains themselves that I wanted to share with young indigenous people, uh, across the country.
[00:27:37] Because for me, I realized like if I could. Take a kid from, you know, the res or a kid from an urban native community who just making it down a run for the first time is this totally foreign and formidable challenge. And I could help them to figure out, okay, well let's envision one turn at a time. Here's how we're gonna get down.
[00:28:02] That's where we need to pizza, that's where we need a french fry. This is how we're gonna break this up, and we're gonna do this thing that seems scary and impossible right now. That if I could help them to do these little things that felt scary and impossible, that it was a way of training their mind to move forward into life and realize.
[00:28:23] There are gonna be so many other challenges that are out there that feel scary and impossible and foreign to you. And if you know how to break it down, if you know how to ask for help, if you know how to celebrate your own little victories along the way, then you're gonna know how to challenge tackle these really big challenges.
[00:28:43] and that was what I wanted to share most. 'cause you, you meet kids in there. Their interest is, you know, maybe it's in music or it's in art, or it's in science, or whatever it might be. but there are so many problems in the world to be overcome. There are so many challenges ahead of us as human beings that are terrifying.
[00:29:02] That like, as I look at all those challenges in the world, that terrify me. I know. I can't solve all the world's problems, but what I wanna be able to share with, with young indigenous people in particular, is the ability to overcome challenges and knowing that they're capable of doing things at the end of a day that they woke up in the morning incapable of doing.
[00:29:29] And so that, that really became what it was about for me, is just like. How can I find a way to share this part of it, um, with as many kids as I can, and maybe maybe one of 'em or two of 'em, or however many someday also gonna be a professional skier or a filmmaker like I am. But what I'm more interested in is like the kid who's gonna be a, you know.
[00:29:55] A scientist in, you know, climate or energy or some, some bigger issue that I'm not smart enough to tackle, um, who can look back on their experiences and be like, I. I can, I can make it over a mountain. That's how I feel about the world and the mountain in front of them in life is much larger, uh, even than the mountains in front of me as a professional skier.
[00:30:20] And so, you know, maybe the relationship and connection that they feel to nature and to themselves and to their community because of skiing, empowers them to do things that I could never do.
[00:30:32] Emy Digrappa: So here's my, my last question. You, you've had a really great journey and I wanna know how are you connecting with kids on the reservation who really, don't have the same opportunities that even you've had?
[00:30:51] If you think about it, how are you connecting them and encouraging them? And, and teaching them that, you know, the, the metaphor you use that life is a mountain that you're gonna climb, that you're gonna face it. And I, I love that. And so how do you relate to kids who are on the reservation who want a dream?
[00:31:15] They just dunno how to go forward.
[00:31:17] Connor Ryan: Yeah, for sure. I mean, so there's a number of ways that that, that I like to do that. And for me, like my, my career as a professional skier looks a lot different than a lot of other people. Uh, a lot of people compete for years so that someday they can be. In ski movies and I kind of skipped the competing phase of things and I make ski films, you know, I make indigenous ski films.
[00:31:41] So like, uh, for me that's been, that's come in the form of like one making films that these kids can see themselves in. Um, and in order to do that has meant like building relationships with kids on the rest. And taking them out for these kind of adventures and being in ski films with them. Uh, my, my friends Bird and Cyrus and, and so many kids that I've gotten to work with and be in films with me, like, they, they really live this.
[00:32:11] And it makes it, I think it makes a difference in their lives and in who they are. And like, we're accountable to one another. We have community with one another. And then, you know, I spend a lot of my time traveling, and connecting with indigenous community around the world, um, or around Turtle Island, I should say.
[00:32:30] I've, I've actually never left Turtle Island as a continent, so when I say around the world, I mean Canada and around the United States, but, uh, yeah, and going to their communities and getting out and skiing with them, there's a lot more, Communities that now have programs that take their kids out skiing, volunteering with them, getting on the mountain with those kids.
[00:32:52] and then we've, we've worked to, uh, you know, connect those kind of programs, with the ski areas and with nonprofit partners to keep building those programs out. Um, and then starting some programs on my own. So, uh, I work with Icon Pass and we do, uh. A scholarship program between Natives Outdoors and Icon Pass, where we, we give away, ski passes along with mm-hmm.
[00:33:17] Ski lessons. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And all the gear that a kid needs to ski or an adult for that matter as well. There's a lot of young or even middle aged indigenous adults who can sure as heck use this kind of influence in the, in their life as well. And so, yeah, we built out a program and it, it started the year.
[00:33:38] That Spirit of the peaks came out. We started with 10 scholarships. Um, then we built our way to 15. And the last two years we've given away 30 scholarships a year to indigenous and First Nations folks across Turtle Island. and you know, that gives them the ability to learn how to ski and from there, own everything that they need to, to go skiing so that they're empowered to do that.
[00:34:00] And something that we find. Find is like when you start a ripple like that, especially in indigenous community, what I found is that we have folks who've gotten our scholarship program fallen in love with skiing or snowboarding, and then find a way in their own community to get a grant and start a program for their kids.
[00:34:20] Right? Because that's, that's something about like. If you give an indigenous community like that carries on and on and on. That's, that's how reciprocity works. When we, we know that within our communities. That's why that we, when we take something from, from one of our animal relatives, one of our plant plant relatives, we, we offer something back to the earth and.
[00:34:42] We lay down that tobacco, we give that prayer, that song, whatever it might be. Um, we have an understanding that if you do that, then the next time you go back, you've built a relationship and that comes back tenfold. You know? And so that's, that's what I found is, you know, like you give one really awesome person who wrote this incredible essay about what it would mean to them to be a snowboarder or a skier.
[00:35:07] If you give the person who cares that much, the opportunity, then you turn around in a year or two and they've given that opportunity to two or three more people themselves. And those people have found two or three more people of their own. And so we've found this like movement, I think really across the sport of like lot more indigenous people getting into skiing and snowboarding.
[00:35:29] the first time I went out to. Ride in the back country with another indigenous person. It was, Len Necefer and I had gone skiing at Winter Park, and then we took a back country lap up on Birthed Pass, which is just right across the way. And we, and that would've been 2018, I believe. And we were just reveling in this idea of like, whoa, I've never back country skied.
[00:35:52] With another indigenous person, like how powerful is this? And now, you know, just what is it, seven years later, is a daily occurrence for me. Like my regular crew of people that I go backcountry skiing with and make ski films with are all indigenous people and we don't. We don't think anything of it in quite the same way.
[00:36:13] And I can, you know, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count all the organizations that I know are taking their kids out there to experience this. And, uh, I think it's just like, it's a self perpetuating. Sort of healing, um, much like happens in an ecosystem. You know, you go back like the first year after a fire and you're like, Ooh, these first little shoots are popping up.
[00:36:40] Maybe just the first fireweed is starting to take root, and then season by season you go back more and more and you're like, whoa, like. The more biodiversity there is one year, the more there'll be the next year and the year after that. And it's just instantiating until, you know, at some point an ecosystem heals itself so much.
[00:37:00] You, you look and you're like, well, there was a fire here at some point. Oh, right. Okay. There's, I guess there's some charred sticks still left over here, but it's hard to see underneath all the flourishing, and I think that's kind of the. The vision that I have for our community, and I think, you know, it's obviously much bigger than just this one sport, but for indigenous people, wherever we're at, whatever our passion is, so long as we take this approach to it and our, our approach is that we gain things in order to be able to share them.
[00:37:30] You know, that's. That's my biggest rule of everybody who sponsors me as a professional skier is like, if you sponsor me, you sponsor my community. It's gonna take, it's gonna take a little more gear than it takes for the next guy down the line. So are you up for that kind of challenge? but then it grows, it grows way more.
[00:37:49] And so I, I think that's been the really. Rewarding thing is just seeing, like if you put that generosity into something, then it, it becomes something that not only sustains you, which is a great feeling, but sustains everyone around you. And so I, I'm just honored to just get to have a little role within that and you know, like it makes it really easy for me to volunteer and give now because there's so many other indigenous communities that are flourishing on the mountain and they're finding a way to, to take back their, their.
[00:38:22] Relationship is a place they're building stronger economic and ecological sovereignty through being in the outdoors and recreating outside.
[00:38:31] Emy Digrappa: Well, really, absolutely. But I think that you've, uh, inspired people to give them a voice to, you know, to go outside and say, I can do this. I think that's what your inspiration is.
[00:38:47] That, you know, I think I, I feel that the indigenous communities are really taking on their voice right now, and I love seeing that.
[00:38:58] Connor Ryan: Yeah. I, I'm, I'm honored to get to be a part of it. You know, when I, I think I look around and when I started, you know, I had that feeling, you know. We call it like impostor syndrome, right?
[00:39:07] Where you're like, Ooh, do I belong here? And I think, uh, for indigenous communities like. We're finding a way pretty quickly to erase that imposter syndrome in the spaces that we're in, that we're learning to take up space within. Because when you look around and you start seeing all these other indigenous people show up in the space with you, you just go like, oh yeah, no, I do belong here.
[00:39:29] This is, this is my homelands, this is who I am, and I've got community around me. And very quickly you go from that like nervous energy of like. Am I an imposter till all of a sudden you're, you're just laughing and smiling just like you would be in, in community in any other way. And then from there, like the creativity and the imagination, um, and the hope and all those things that come with it are just so natural.
[00:39:57] Emy Digrappa: Right? What a good feeling. Connor. Well, thank you so much for taking your time to talk to me. It's been such a pleasure and I really look forward to seeing, uh, some of your films. It'll be fun.
[00:40:12] Connor Ryan: Absolutely. I can't wait to come share them with you and your community.
[00:40:15] Emy Digrappa: Thank you.