Sam McCracken has traveled near and far sharing his story about how one man rose from one of Montana’s most desolate Indian reservations to a managerial position at the biggest sports apparel company in the country-Nike.

He has told many audiences about how he was unsure about his place in the world as a young man but rarely mentions how his Montana roots helped him become an influence in Indian Country.

On April 18, McCracken visited the University of Montana as a presenter in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Native American Center of Excellence presentation series and shared details of his rise from the reservation to his current place at Nike.

McCracken credited his grandfather for the philosophy that he used to get him where he is today.

“Take the knowledge that I have today and make it applicable for people that come after me,” McCracken said was the philosophy his grandfather used.

McCracken, a member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes, is the general manager of the Nike N7 program and chairman of the Nike N7 Fund. He is from the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in north central Montana.

McCracken talked about the process he went through from being a young man, unsure of his place in the world, to the mogul that he is today.

After working hard in the hot, mosquito-infested alfalfa fields of his family’s ranch he knew it wasn’t for him.

“This is not where I wanted to spend the rest of my life,” McCracken said.

As he left Montana at the age of 19, his grandfather told him he was going to live and work in the white man’s world and that he needed to bring his Native values and beliefs with him wherever he went.

His grandfather introduced him to the philosophy of “seven generations”. He said Sam was in the middle of those generations and that he needed to look back three generations for guidance, direction and focus, and to look forward to the three generations to make a difference. He said this ethos stayed with him as he progressed through life and became successful. The philosophy was also the inspiration for the N7 brand.

McCracken moved from Montana to California and got a job working in a Nike distribution center. After 20 years of working in the distribution center, he was given the opportunity to make good on his grandfather’s advice to make a difference for future generations. He was appointed chairman of the Native American Employee network as a volunteer while he still worked in the distribution center 50 hours a week.

McCracken eventually rose to becoming the general manager of Nike’s N7 program and chairman of the Nike N7 Fund. His most recent success came in November 2011 when he was appointed to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Council on Indian Education by President Barak Obama.

Nike N7 is a program dedicated to promoting good health and motivation in Native communities through sport. Using professional Native athletes as ambassadors, he created clothing lines and products geared toward Native people, the proceeds of which went back to helping tribal communities. This means that the 4.3 million tribal members across the United States now have access to Nike, access they didn’t have before.

It’s a success story that has touched anyone and everyone who has heard about Nike N7. But it seemed to touch those at the presentation more.

Buster Moore, representative at Fort Belknap Indian Community Council, who attended the presentation and met with McCracken said he was glad to see that someone with Montana roots was behind such a prestigious organization.

He said as a representative for his community council he was interested in seeing what McCracken and the Nike N7 program had to offer.

“As a tribal leader I’m constantly looking for programs and organizations that will help me provide services to our youth that are healthy, preventive and that promote healthy lifestyles,” Moore said. “Athletics is the best tool we have to keep our kids alcohol and drug free and to promote good academics.”

During his visit McCracken met with other tribal leaders and tribal colleges. He met with Moore, the director of the National American Indian Business Leaders, representatives from Aaniih Nakoda College, Blackfeet Community College, Stone Child College and Missoula Indian Center.

In all his meetings and the presentation McCracken was sure to emphasis exactly how N7 operates.

During a question and answer session at the end of his presentation a student asked McCracken when he was going to bring N7 to the University of Montana, and McCracken replied with “I’m here now”, bringing the audience to a laugh.

Most people consider N7 to be a program that comes into the community and gets things going but McCracken said that’s not the case.

McCracken said N7 acts as an “enabler, not a programmer”, which means that rather than creating programs for communities; they step in and help communities realize existing goals and act on them.

Nike N7 currently works with hundreds of communities and universities across the country including Oregon State University and the University of Nevada.

McCracken briefly mentioned that he would love to get something going at the University of Montana, and so would the University of Montana.

Wilena Old Person, student advisor at the University of Montana’s Native American Center of Excellence, who was instrumental in bringing in McCracken to present, said bringing N7 to Montana sounds promising.

“I think what Sam was saying is that he would love for N7 to be highlighted here at the University of Montana because we do have Native athletes here,” Old Person said.

So far the Nike N7 program has come a long way. McCracken said some of the goals of the fund have been met and some times exceeded, but as always there is still along way to go.

“… We have gotten 1.4 million dollars in three years, providing access to sports for Native youth just on the sale of N7 products,” McCracken said. “And we’re going to fund 40 programs this year at a half a million dollars. For us this is about the power of sport, maximizing the human potential of our next generation of tribal leaders.”

Mike Huberman (enrolled member of the Fort Belknap Indian Community) is from Missoula, Mont.