Billy Mills

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5 out of 5

Second Native American to Win an Olympic Gold Medal & Co-Founder of Running Strong for American Indian Youth

Travels From Travels From:
Sacramento, CA, USA
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Billy Mills Biography

Billy Mills (Born June 30, 1938) is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribal Nation and is also known by his Lakota name is: Tamakoce Te’hila, translating to “Loves His Country” or more traditionally “Respects the Earth”.

He is an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 10,000 meter run a the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. His Olympic victory is considered on of the greatest sports moments of all time. He remains the only athlete from the western hemisphere to ever win the Olympic 10,000 meter race.

Mills was orphaned at an early age, his mother joining their ancestors when Mills was 8 years of age and his father when Mills was 12 years of age.

Before his father passed he told Mills, “ You have broken wings son and it takes a dream to heal. Find your dream and it will take you down a path introducing you to your passions in life. Find your passion, develop your skills to equal your passion and magic can happen! One or more of the magical things you do in life just may be looked upon as a miracle son.”

Due to his fathers teachings, Mills' life is based upon dreams and the resilience of his ancestors. His great grandmother, BB Mills, an Englishman, was requested by Chief Red Cloud to become the 1st Indian agent at the Red Cloud agency, which is today the Oglala Lakota Tribal Nations headquarters. The US Government refused this request, saying that BB Mills spoke fluent Lakota, is married to a Lakota woman and had 5 Lakota children, hence it would be hard to strip the children of everything Lakota to save the child. Shortly afterwards BB Mills died.

When Crazy Horse surrendered in 1875, riding into Fort Robinson with him were his warriors, the elderly men, women and children followed by their supply train. Walking with them was Sally Bush Mills, Mills’ great grand mother and her 5 children. One of those children was Ben Mills, Billy’s grand father.

Their resilience and their foot prints are present in Mills’ journey today as National Spokesperson for Running Strong for American Indian Youth, which Mills co-founded in 1986.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 10/02/2024.

Billy Mills Speaking Topics

  • Footprints

  • The Pursuit of Excellence

    Sharing his personal schema for success, Billy Mills explains how he has been able to unleash the passion and energy within himself to achieve phenomenal success in sport and life. Recalling his legendary 10,000 meter run—the greatest upset in Olympic history—he outlines his value-based concept on how dreams come true, a system which continues to inspire thousands of individuals across America today.

  • Global Unity

    Our world is changing: entire governments have been dismantled, new governments created, existing governments redesigned, universities re-engineered, and businesses reconstructed. Billy Mills shares what remains constant in our ever-changing world and explains how this consistency is our key to global unity.

    He takes his audience on a compassionate and powerful journey through time, weaving stories of his young life as an orphaned Native American child living in poverty and coming face to face with racism, and explains that it was the daily choices he made in life, not just the talent he possessed, that led to his quest for Olympic glory.

    In this powerful presentation, Mills explains that it is the journey, not the destination, that shapes us as individuals and unites us as a people.

Billy Mills Videos

  • Native American Olympic Stories: Billy Mills & Bob Wheeler
    A live broadcast roundtable with Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills & Jim Thorpe Biographer Robert Wheeler, in a conversation led by Nedra Darling,...
  • Billy Mills Virtual Address for Students
  • Footprints | Billy Mills | TEDxYale
    Billy uses his story of overcoming the odds at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and his experiences with Running Strong to illuminate lessons about ...

Billy Mills Books

  • Wings Of An Eagle
    Wings Of An Eagle
  • Lessons of a Lakota: A Young Man's Journey to Happiness and Self-understanding
    Lessons of a Lakota: A Young Man's Journey to Happiness and Self-understanding

Speaker Lists Featuring Billy Mills

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  • What topics does Billy Mills speak about?

  • Where does Billy Mills travel from?

    Billy Mills generally travels from Sacramento, CA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
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Billy Mills is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Footprints, The Pursuit of Excellence and Global Unity. The estimated speaking fee range to book Billy Mills for your event is $5,000 - $10,000. Billy Mills generally travels from Sacramento, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Gyasi Ross, Winona LaDuke, Tatanka Means, Carrie Billy and Rudy Ruettiger. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Billy Mills for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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