Joseph Red Owl '22 Recruiting Profile

Manahuu (Hello).  My name is Joseph Asu Xopa Red Owl.  I’m Paiute from California’s Eastern Sierra region and Oglala Sioux from South Dakota.  I was raised in the American Indian community on the Bishop Paiute Reservation in Bishop, CA.

My native culture has been a big part of my life and has had a major influence on who I am and what I want to do in life.  The reservation is very small with a high rate of unemployment, drug abuse, and alcoholism. Yet we are a strong community that values our heritage and helps keep our culture alive through native language revitalization and our indigenous skills such as basket weaving, hunting, traditional dancing, and indigenous tool making.  We do our best to care for the land and water. Paiute’s are water people “Paya” is how we say water. 

I made a decision early in life that I would not be one of the sad statistics on the reservation.  My journey to avoid drugs and alcohol started with me valuing my culture and what it means to be an Indigenous person, working hard to learn and do the best I can in school, and to be the very best athlete that I am capable of.  

I often participate in our tribal events and have volunteered for many community service projects such as Indigenous World Water Day and Eastern Sierra Cancer Alliance run.  My normal daily routine revolves around physical conditioning. In addition to working out and practicing with the sport I’m engaged in, I also run and lift weights everyday.  During my freshman year, I set a new deadlift weight lifting record. I fuel my body with nutritious food using my meal plan and food journal. I believe in a higher power and was brought up in a Christian church.  I believe that tending to my spiritual being is part of making me a well-rounded person.

I’m committed to having a good life and playing sports at the collegiate and professional levels.