If you’ve ever watched an antiques or ancestry show, you’ve noticed that the stories that go along with family heirlooms and traditions aren’t always historically accurate. They’re often truer in spirit, though, and that’s the case with the Running Eagles name that Life University athletes proudly wear.

The story of Running Eagle, a warrior of the indigenous Blackfeet people, is one of which we strive to be worthy. Pi’tamaka (PIH tah mah kah), was a woman who walked the warrior’s path. She earned the name Running Eagle and became a legend for defending and protecting her people and their way of life.

Running Eagle was a hero. As Joseph Campbell, the foremost expert on myth and legend, said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Our Running Eagles are also heroes, defending and protecting Lasting Purpose, committed to giving, doing, loving and serving their way toward a better world.

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