The Badger Run is a ceremonial run, not a race, of the Lipan Apache Tribe (of Texas) which starts the Lipan Apache Tribe’s annual Nde Daa Homecoming Pow-Wow (March) or the Fall Dak Éé Sí Pow-Wow (October) and symbolizes an event portrayed in the Lipan Apache Tribe’s Creation story. The story accounts that in the beginning, all people—the Tree People, the Animal People, and the Apache People—live in a dark under-earth. The people asked for volunteers to go up to the earth and check if it was ready for people. Crow volunteered. Crow went up to check but was side-tracked when he found fish to eat so he did not return as promised. Beaver was the next to volunteer to check, but Beaver, too, did not return as promised. Instead, he started building his home on a river. Finally, Badger volunteered to go up to the surface to check if the world was ready for people. Badger was trustworthy and promised to come back. When Beaver saw the world was ready, Badger ran back to the people to tell them. (You can read more of The Emergence in the Lipan Apache Creation story here: Lipan Emergence.
The Badger Run also celebrates the eagle, the chief of all birds, through the ceremonial use of eagle feathers, observed by us since creation.
There have always been Lipan Apache people who are Badgers, Lipans who are seen as "born-to-run" long distance and who are trustworthy. Runners for the Badger Run are recruited from this pool of Lipan Apaches. Each Badger Run has one to four Badger runners with each of the four representing the one of the four directions—north, west, east, and south. Based on the direction they represent, the Badger runners are identified by color: the White Badger (North), the Yellow Badger (West), the Blue Badger (South), and the Black Badger (East). The Yellow Badger is always female based on our story of Changing Woman (the Moon) who is eternal because she turns west. The White Badger, who represents the directions from which the Lipan Apache people emerged, is the leader. The White Badger approves the course, makes sure that the other runners know the run's track, starts the run, and sets the pace for the run. The track for the runners may be 4 to 20 miles long. There may be more alternate runners known as Grey Badgers who will sometimes run with but behind the four main runners. The color Grey represents our tribe's entire four direction wheel. Guest Native runners are also allowed to run as Grey Badgers.
We are recruiting long-distance runners for the Annual Badger Run. Until further notice, after Jan 1, 2023, the Badger Run will be on the 4th Saturday in October as the ceremonial start of the Tribe's fall pow wow. We always seek 4 runners to fill the spots as the White/North, Yellow/West, Blue/South, and Black/East badgers, but will accept as many as qualify to run as Gray Badgers. To qualify, runners must be able to
◈be a Tribe member or Lipan Apache related to a tribe member (other Indigenous may run as Grey Badgers),
◈run a 10 min/mile or faster (speed flexibility for runners over age 60), and
◈run at least 8K/5mi without stopping.
If you are interested in being a Badger Runner, email Linda at 
.
In 2020, we were unable to open our annual pow wow to the public because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Tribe agreed with the City of McAllen that it was not safe to do so for both of our annual pow wows, one in Spring (March) and the other in Fall (October). When the March pow wow was cancelled, activities including the Badger Run were resceduled to the Fall pow wow. Yet in October, with the virus still raging in McAllen and the rest of the state, the planned 50th year celebration continue but in a closed-to-the-public mini pow-wow with a small group of Lipan dancers. All participants followed safety guidelines with masks and social distancing.
Our four 2020 Badger runners also participated with modified runs that still celebrated the Badger and our long tradition of running. The four participating runners planned their own 4-mile course, running individually, each using coronavirus safe standards. The runners used an app to log their runs and the data was shared on our website. We are very proud our our runners, serving as role models, and preserving our tradition of running through thick or thin.
