Without Reservation: Koenig, Decorah embrace role of advocate
November 25, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Andy Baggot
Badgers pair from Ho-Chunk tribe don't shy away from being role models for Native Americans
To find a Native American on a college basketball team is uncommon. To find two on the same roster is downright rare. That's why Wisconsin's Will Decorah and Bronson Koenig, both members of the Ho-Chunk tribe, won't shy away from being role models for those that need guidance and advocates for those that need a voice. | From Varsity Magazine
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
Will Decorah and Bronson Koenig are more than just teammates on the Wisconsin men's basketball team.
They are more than just homegrown talents -- Decorah is a junior guard from Waunakee; Koenig a junior guard from La Crosse -- who helped lead their high schools to multiple state championships in football and basketball, respectively.
They are more than just good friends with thoughtful voices and even-keeled personalities.
They are uncommon symbols of cultural diversity.
Decorah and Koenig are Native Americans -- proud members of the Ho-Chunk tribe -- whose roles with the Badgers put them in remarkable company.
History shows that a tiny percentage of NCAA Division I men's basketball rosters are Native Americans. A year ago, there were 13 out of 5,432 players, according to data compiled by the NCAA. The year before that, there were 14 in a pool of 5,493.
That two would share the same uniform and walk the same prestigious Big Ten Conference campus -- Decorah is majoring in economics and is Koenig seeking a degree in community and non-profit leadership -- is something to explore and celebrate.
That's especially the case during 25th anniversary of Native American Heritage Month, which was formalized in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush and runs through November.
The concept of having two Native Americans on the same major college men's team came to life when Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan added Decorah to the roster after Decorah had spent the previous two seasons as manager.
Koenig, meanwhile, has started 29 of 82 career games and currently leads the Badgers in scoring heading into a non-conference game with Prairie View A&M on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center.
"To have two on one team is pretty incredible," Decorah said. "I think it's kind of a close bond that me and Bronson share. We've been friends since high school -- knowing each other through basketball -- and now being on the same team brings us together even more.
"I think it's spectacular. It's something that's really cool. I feel lucky to be a part of it and I feel very lucky that my friend in Bronson is a guy who is also sharing that with me."
It's a shared distinction to be sure, but Decorah will be the first to say that Koenig has set the tone of activism. Koenig said supporting the cause of Native Americans -- speaking out about issues and offering a hand of encouragement to all who seek it -- "is one of the biggest priorities in my life."
"I feel it's necessary to be an activist," he added. "I do because there aren't enough activists out there for Native Americans in general.".
"I feel it's necessary to be an activist," Koenig said. "I do because there aren't enough activists out there for Native Americans in general."
Koenig estimates that he's made five or six presentations to Native American audiences, including a remarkable one in March of 2014 when the Badgers were in Lincoln, Nebraska, to play the Cornhuskers in a Big Ten game.
Students and coaches from a high school in Winnebago, Nebraska, made the two-hour trip to hear Koenig give a 20-minute talk about his life and ask questions. At the heart of the presentation was Koenig's pride in his heritage and the sacrifices he's made to live a rare dream.
Aaron Bird Bear, the interim assistant dean of student diversity programs in the UW School of Education, said there are generally 300 to 350 self-identified American Indians or Alaskan Indians in the entire student body on the Madison campus of approximately 43,000 undergraduates. That translates to less than 1 percent of the academic population.
So the odds of being a Native American student-athlete at Wisconsin are extremely long.
"We don't see a lot of American Indian role models in Division I athletics," Bird Bear said. "That's incredible leadership (for Decorah and Koenig) to be a part of in a top-tier program" like the UW men's basketball team.
Bird Bear said he doesn't know Decorah or Koenig all that well -- their majors are outside the school of education, he notes -- but Bird Bear can accurately measure the optics of having two Native Americans in the UW athletic spotlight.
"It's astounding to see two tremendous young gentlemen succeeding in scholarship athletics," he said.
Decorah and Koenig say they have not yet sat down and discussed their new circumstances at length, but they expect to do so as the season unfolds.
"That will be really cool," Koenig said.
There's much to talk about.
Decorah, whose father, Tim, was a guard for Ryan during his days at UW-Platteville and is a member of the Ho-Chunk tribe, said he was in middle school when he first began to realize that he had a different background than his classmates.
He understood "it was something I should embrace" but was unaware of the plight facing most Native Americans because he was "spoiled a little bit" by his parents.
"Growing up in Waunakee it's kind of hard to ... relate to people that actually go through struggles of growing up in poor economic times and places like the reservation where kids don't have a lot," he said.
Koenig said he first became aware of his heritage while in grade school before attending Aquinas High and evolving into the state Player of the Year and a highly-regarded prospect. College basketball bluebloods such as Duke, Kansas and North Carolina tried to recruit him, but a unique pitch by Ryan ultimately kept Koenig home. According to Koenig, whose mother, Ethel Funmaker, works for the Ho-Chunk in their technology department, Ryan emphasized that the Native American population in Wisconsin would be able to revel in his exploits.
"A big selling point," Koenig said.
"There are definitely a large number of people around here that obviously are looking to support me and Bronson," Decorah said.
Being a role model to Native Americans in the state -- Bird Bear said there are 12 tribes in Wisconsin -- is important to Koenig, but he doesn't draw the line at his heritage.
"I'm trying to be the best role model I can be," he said.
"Me and Bronson both are kind of representing," Decorah said. "We have to set an example not only on the court -- the level of skill that we can attain -- but also off the court by setting an example of getting involved in the community.
"A lot of kids are looking up to us whether they're Native American or not."
Is there a specific agenda? Yes, said Koenig.
"I like speaking to Native American youth and just kind of inspiring them," he said. "I just try to give them any motivation I can to help them better their lives, their selves and their situations."
"Even if their situation isn't always good, they can change that with hard work and belief in themselves. You see the suicide rates and the alcohol abuse and the drug abuse on some of these reservations. They're just incredibly high. Hopefully I can make an impact that way.
"But I also want to help (how) people view Native Americans in general. We're kind of like the forgotten race a little bit. We're the minority of the minority. That's kind of crazy because we were the first to ever inhabit this country."
Decorah wants to follow in his friend's footsteps.
"We have to set an example not only on the court - the level of skill that we can attain - but also off the court by setting an example of getting involved in the community," Decorah said. "A lot of kids are looking up to us whether they're Native American or not."
"Going forward, looking at what Bronson has done, I'd really like to try to be more aware of the cultural aspects of the Ho-Chunk Nation," he said. "People look at me and see Native American. It would be definitely something I'd be interested in going forward."
How should people embrace this cause? Koenig said most of us draw our knowledge of Native Americans from the Trail of Tears -- a series of forced relocations of multiple nations following the Indian Removal Act of 1830 -- while he often cites the 2011 documentary Off the Rez. That film chronicles Shoni Schimmel, a standout women's basketball player, and her family as they struggle to find the right path off an Oregon reservation.
"Educate yourself on a little bit of Native American history and appreciate Native Americans," Koenig said. "Just be aware of what we went through and why the Native American society is the way it is today."
Decorah said people should embrace the Native American culture because its roots in this state are deep.
"It's something to be proud of because it represents Wisconsin as a whole," he said. "All the tribes across Wisconsin are a huge part of what makes up Wisconsin. People know about the Ho-Chunk tribe. People know about the Potowatomi tribe. That's something that kind of makes Wisconsin unique."
Bird Bear, a member of the Mandan Hidatsa tribe out of the Dakotas, said Decorah and Koenig amount to "astounding representation" as student-athletes at Wisconsin.
But there's work to be done.
"I still have a long ways to go," Koenig said.
