Hundreds of young cowboys converged on Fort Worth recently seeking glory and prize money in the World Youth Bull Riding championship.
But there was a lot more at stake for a group of Native American riders, who are spurred by tribal pride and brutal poverty.
Jim Douglas followed one teenage Navajo back to his desolate reservation in Arizona.
HARD ROCK, Arizona — A young Navajo family struggles to hang on in the swirling grit of their reservation home in Hard Rock, Arizona.
They say a special prayer for their son, Raylando Puente, who on this day is celebrating his 15th birthday.
He's helping his family hang on... the hard way, atop an angry bull.
Raylando is among the best youth bull riders in Arizona and New Mexico, which earned him a shot at a world title in Fort Worth last month at the World Youth Bull Riding championship.
He was among 21 Navajo riders in Will Rogers Coliseum. While most contestants climb aboard for thrills or shiny buckles, or a chance to sock away a few thousand dollars for college, Raylando rides for all that — and much more.
"Represents a lot of things; especially when you're Navajo," he said.
Raylando's quest is spurred by deep tribal pride and desperate tribal poverty.
"It's pretty much important to my family; keeping food on the table, helping my family out with bills," he said.
Raylando Puente's home actually sits outside Hard Rock, Arizona. Don't look for it on any map.
He shares the home with 14 others... brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, his mom and dad, and — on special occasions like his birthday — many more.
Raylando's grandmother, draped in turquoise, rolled out fry bread. It was too windy to eat outside, and you get the feeling the little house needs all those relatives to just keep it from blowing away.
That and the weight of Raylando's winnings — championship rodeo buckles ring the rooms like a concho belt.
"I'm proud of Raylando," said his dad, Chris Puente, who has supported the family with steady construction work in Phoenix, nearly 300 miles away.
Now, that work is drying up.
"Sometimes I get only 26 hours," the elder Puente said. "Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I get 36 hours."
Chris Puente is proud and grateful that Raylando and older brother Solomon contribute their bull riding payouts.
On the Navajo reservation, unemployment is estimated at 50 percent — unthinkable for most Americans, but not for the first Americans.
"The way I look at it, on this reservation, everyone is struggling on the reservation... everyone is struggling," Raylando said. "There is no work anywhere. Whoever gets work don't make that much."
So Raylando sharpens his riding skills on a rusted paint barrel mounted on tire springs.
He spends weekdays boarding at his high school 75 miles away, where his grades are good and his supportive teachers are puzzled.
"They ask me, 'Why you want to do that? There's more work off the reservation. You can explore and see new things out there.' I just tell them I love it — where I live and how I live. It's beautiful land, and I want to stay out here," Raylando said.
The Puente homestead isn't far from the breathtaking Canyon de Chelly, where their ancestors made their last stand against U.S. soldiers.
Flora Puente, Raylando's mom, said her son is more rooted to the past, more spiritual than most kids these days, mixing Christianity with Navajo nature beliefs.
"We're always told, our medicine man, before the sun shines go out and do a prayer," Mrs. Puente said.
On this evening, Raylando and his family are getting ready to go to another rodeo. It's three hours away down dirt roads.
For one ride.
For eight seconds.
He hopes.
They head for the town of Page, Arizona. The sun is setting by the time the announcer introduces the young cowboys and cowgirls on Raylando's birthday.
It's a world away from the big competition just a few weeks ago in Fort Worth, where Raylando did not win the $5,000 that was up for grabs.
But he did win $165 in Page, enough to enter the next rodeo, give a little to his family, and get just a little closer to his goal of one day becoming the best Navajo bull rider ever.
E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com
