Honoring the Ancient Way
16 teams compete in Zuni Human/Horse relay

Rider Jerome Shirley and runner McToliver Eriacho, winners of Saturday's Human/Horse Relay Race in Zuni, pose with Shirley's horse, Kripto. The 9.5 mile race wound around Dowa Yalanne Mesa. — Courtesy photo

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

ZUNI — The beautiful Dowa Yalanne mesa — sacred to the Zuni people — was the site of an unusual race on Saturday that has its roots in Zuni history.

Sixteen Native American horseback riders, sixteen runners, and 16 horses teamed up for the Human/Horse Relay Race at Zuni Pueblo. The event, which was hosted by the Zuni Horse Racing Committee, was held on DY Springs Road, by the base of Dowa Yalanne. The riders and their horses competed in the first leg of the relay by racing 5.5 miles of rugged, rocky, and often steep terrain. The runners finished the final leg of the race by running a 4-mile course.

The event, which also featured a free 5K Fun Run/Walk, was held in conjunction with the Ancient Way Fall Festival. The annual festival includes a number of community events along New Mexico Highway 53 in the Zuni Mountains, from Grants to Zuni.

Rider Jerome Shirley, runner McToliver Eriacho, and Shirley’s 6-year-old horse “Kripto” were the first-place finishers. As he collected his trophy and the team’s $200, Shirley joked that it was the fastest $200 he had ever made.

Shirley, originally from Ganado, now lives in Zuni and is a member of the Zuni Horse Racing Committee. Eriacho, from Ramah, is an experienced runner who competes in many races around the region. According to the men, they agreed to become race partners during a conversation at Gallup’s T&R Market, where Eriacho is an employee and Shirley is a frequent customer.

The second-place winners were rider Pernell Tsalate and runner Arlen Shekya Jr. Third place went to rider S. Dan Concho and runner Gordon Quam, and fourth place went to rider Filbert Lastiyano and runner Erik Kallestewa. Cash prizes were awarded to the top four teams, with the riders receiving trophies that featured statues of a runner and a horse and the runners receiving plaques. All race participants received a T-shirt.

According to Vanessa Peywa, the secretary/treasurer for the horse racing committee, the organization generally sponsors two horse races a year, one during the Zuni Fair and another in October. This was the first time the group decided to sponsor the Human/Horse Relay Race.

Although the relay race is a new event, committee President Elton Mahkee said the idea behind the race has its origins in Zuni culture. “This was a tradition way before our fathers’ time,” he said.

Mahkee explained that hundreds of years ago Zuni people delivered messages to other tribes through the use of relay systems involving runners and sometimes riders and horses. Such relays would use established trails that led to other Pueblos like those at Acoma, Jemez, and Hopi, he said. Zunis also had traditional games and competitions, he added, and some involved relay races where participants would run for distances of 20 miles or more.

Organizers of Saturday’s race picked the old trail up Dowa Yalanne because of this relay history, Mahkee said. “That was the original route, the original trail,” he explained.
Mahkee said it took two months for race committee members to locate the exact old trail because it was so overgrown with brush and trees. In the process, he said, they found stacks of stones marking the trail and old stone steps that the ancestors of the Zuni carved into the sides of the mesa. Members of the Zuni Hot Shots helped with the effort by clearing enough of the old trail so it became wide enough to accommodate two horses, Mahkee said, and GPS technology was used to plot the exact mileage of the race course.

Although Mahkee is president of the race committee, he said his own team didn’t fare so well. “I was the last one,” he admitted, laughing. Mahkee said his 6-year-old horse “Cheyenne” had a tough time with the very steep grade of the trail. On the other hand, Mahkee’s teenage daughter, Mellory, did considerably better than dad. Mellory, the only girl to participate in the race, her horse “Red,” and their running partner, Timothy Draper, placed fifth.

Race committee members said they plan to host the event again next year. They hope to attract more participants, they said, and they hope to raise the amount of the prize money.
Information: Elton Mahkee at (505) 782-2906.