The story of Homelands Fitness — a new tracker app that lets people see what traditional Indigenous lands they’re walking and running on — is wrapped up with the story of Spokane tribal member Danny Brigman.
“It's pretty customary for us to introduce ourselves based off our family relations,” Brigman said. “So I'm the son of Ron and Terri Brigman. I'm the grandson of Bill Brigman and Alvina Wood. On my mom's side, it's Gene and Marlene Kennedy.”
Brigman, a member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, grew up in Wellpinit, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He was brought up to understand the value of a tight-knit community: Even while attending Washington State University for college, he always knew he’d return to the reservation.
“This community filled up my cup so much, it was overflowing,” he said. “And so instead of just letting all of that water just hit the floor, I want to fill up everyone else's cup as well.”
In 2021, horrific news made its way to Wellpinit when in Kamloops, British Columbia, the remains of 215 Indigenous children were discovered on the grounds of a former boarding school.
“Most tribes, we were already aware of it, but to kind of finally have it verified, that one hit close for me,” Brigman said. “I have family in Kamloops. I have family that went to that specific residential school.”
At the time, Brigman was getting into long distance running, and decided to use his new activity as a way to reach people unfamiliar with Indigenous history and affairs.
“Now — you’re already outdoors, moving, appreciating the outdoors — now let’s teach you more about it and teach you about the tribes that are still here, still around,” he said.
He organized a 215-mile relay to honor the Kamloops children. During the last mile, members of the Colville Tribal Council walked alongside Brigman and other runners.
“It was really powerful,” Brigman said. “That event kind of set me on another path, of, ‘I want to do something. I want to do something.’”
Brigman went on to organize more running challenges, asking runners to log their miles, then learn about the Indigenous lands they’d run on. It quickly became clear that moving between different trackers and websites was a frustrating endeavor.
It led Brigman to wonder: What if he put it all in one place?
He reached out to Native Land Digital, a global database that maps Indigenous territories, then found an app developer. From there, with a runner’s typical stubborn mindset, he set about making the Homelands Fitness app happen. It took quite a while.
“The goal in front of you, and the next goal, and the next goal, and the bite sized chunks, and framing the hard work, and putting in the work day after day for the payoff,” he said, describing his mindset.
Brigman finally soft-launched Homelands this fall, after years of financial roadblocks. He is the first to admit that the app has a long way to go.
His dream is to get tribes involved in a Wikipedia-style platform where tribal members can submit oral histories and share important cultural knowledge. That living, breathing exchange is what he hopes will make Homelands more than just a fitness tracker.
“A lot of the time when here in the U.S. the general public learns about Native Americans, it's in the past tense,” Brigman said. “And I hope Homelands can be a vehicle towards helping change that just the tiniest bit, and start seeing us in the present tense.”
