I just read a news release that a major corporation has spent a lot of money to do something really good!
Nike (the sports shoe company) recently unveiled their newest shoe – the Nike Air Native N7. It’s an athletic shoe that they’ve designed specifically for Native Americans. The N7 took two years of research, development, and fit testing in collaboration with the Native American community. This is the first time Nike (or anyone) has built a shoe for a specific ethnic group.
The shoe has a unique shape, which was created to fit the greater width and thickness of Native Americans' feet. Nike designers measured feet from members of 70 tribes and found that men and women’s feet were three width sizes larger than the standard Nike shoe. They also found they needed to make the toe box (front of the shoe) deeper.
Now this is a substantial effort aimed at promoting increasing physical activity in a population with a soaring obesity rate. The plan is to distribute the shoes “solely” to tribal wellness programs and schools across the country. They will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass them on to individuals. All profits from the shoes that are sold will be reinvested in health programs on tribal lands where obesity and diabetes are near epidemic levels.
If you are curious about the name – N7 is a reference to the Seventh Generation philosophy in which tribes look to the preceding three generations for wisdom and the three generations ahead of them for their legacy. The shoes have a sunrise/sunset design on the tongue and heel, feathers on the inside, and stars on the sole.
Says Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, “It reinforces the core of the Nike brand, which is: If you have a body you are an athlete.” Doesn’t that just make your heart sing? It does mine!
Alice Lockridge, MS Phys Ed
PRO♥FIT
www.AliceLockridge.com