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| Click to view previous alert | next alert Save Horses from the Omak Suicide Race
Annual Washington State rodeo event returns in August
The Suicide Race takes place over the course of four days and nights. Riders begin by careening their horses down Suicide Hill, a 210-foot plunge at a 62 degree angle (which is close to a vertical 45 degree angle). The horses then confront the narrow entrance of the Okanogan River at breakneck speed, often getting caught in bottlenecks and crashing into one another. Those horses who make it into the river must swim over 100 yards and make a final desperate sprint up a 500 foot hill to the finish line. Many of the horses used in the Suicide Race suffer heart attacks from overexertion, broken bones from collisions and even death by drowning. In the 2004 race, three horses died in the first heat alone. Many more horses also die later from racing injuries or during practice runs, but these fatalities are not documented or calculated.
Far from being a tradition, the Suicide Race was created in 1936 by a local furniture salesman and publicity chair for the Omak Stampede Rodeo (which had started the year before) as a way to boost attendance and tourism. Many people attend the Stampede because it takes place during the Colville tribes' annual Pow Wow, a fascinating event that showcases traditional Native American culture. The tribes boycotted the Stampede in 1999 because it had become too commercial, but later re-endorsed it after Omak Stampede, Inc. agreed to move the Indian Encampment to a better location and double the Suicide Race purse to $16,000 -- all without making the event less commercial. This only shows that the Suicide race is all about currency, not culture. What You Can Do: -Write to the Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association (PCRA) and urge them to withdraw their sanction of the deadly Omak Suicide Race. Remind them that, according to the promoters, the Suicide Race is not separate from the Omak Stampede, as PCRA has claimed in the past. Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association -Urge the Omak Stampede's corporate sponsors—Pepsi, Coors and Wrangler Jeans—to withdraw their support from this cruel event. Contact: Steven S. Reinemund, Chariman and CEO Eric H. Molson, Chairman Wrangler Jeans Co. -Watch this PSA against the Omak Suicide Race. |
Every year, as part of the Omak Stampede Rodeo, the small town of Omak in Eastern Washington State plays host to the Omak Suicide Race, a deadly competition that has killed at least 20 horses since 1983. The race will be held again this year from August 10th to 13th.
Race promoters claim that the Suicide Race is a Native American rite of passage for adolescent boys to become adult men, but it was not historically a tradition of the twelve Colville Confederated Tribes that have lived in the area for centuries. Even if it were a tradition, it would be offensive to turn a sacred rite of passage into a commercial event. In addition, many of the contestants are well into their thirties -- well past adolescence -- and race only for money and fame.