This is the first of series episodes exploring the life and career of Billy Mills, the Gold Medal winner at 10,000m the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation as well as the only American to have ever won Gold in the 10,000m. In Part 1, I set the stage for Mills’ career by situating him in the larger context of Native American history, providing an overview of U.S. policies and attitudes towards indigenous people and connecting his family history to significant events and developments.

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