BY DANTE ZÚÑIGA W E ST
WHO GOT GAME?
Why so few African-American hunters?
I
recently took a short drive north to interview Donny
Adair, president of the Afro-American Hunting
Association. Adair is a Pacifi c Northwest outdoorsman
who’s hunted everything from burly southern whitetail
deer to the wild turkeys of Eugene. The former UO
student and current Portland resident had a lot to say about
his mission to promote hunting and outdoor pastimes
among the African-American community.
We know from the Fish and Wildlife Services Stats that only 2 percent of
Afro-Americans in the country hunt. How many hunters of color do you
think exist in the Pacific Northwest?
I think we are undercounted. There aren’t a lot of us,
but I think we are undercounted for sure. There are more
here than you would think, but it’s not like the South where
there are black hunting clubs. We are more spread out here.
Why aren’t there more African-American hunters in the U.S.?
Some of the reasons include the urban setting most
people of color grow up in. And the fact that there is less
land ownership among us — ‘cause a lot of hunters hunt on
land that is theirs or land that belongs to their families —
but also the media constantly associating us with violence,
fi rearms and crime. At this point, a lot of black folks are
scared of fi rearms and want nothing to do with it because
of that association. The economic factor is also part of it.
You have to have a car or a truck, you gotta have your guns,
your ammunition, the licenses, the tags. I mean, if you’re
not a middle-class person it’s pretty hard.
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What responses have you noticed from white
hunters in the Northwest with regard to your cause
and what you’re doing?
The everyday ordinary hunter is OK
with it; but I haven’t encountered a lot of
enthusiasm for inclusion. The issue for some
people is that they don’t even want to talk
about race. And that is totally normal and
natural for them as white people who were
raised not to judge people by the color of
their skin. But how do you know whether or
AAHA PRESIDENT DONNY ADAIR CENTER
not you are treating someone in an offensive
WITH SONS DONNELL RIGHT AND KENNY
AFTER A SUCCESSFUL DUCK HUNT
manner if you don’t know anything about
them and their culture? But they don’t want
to talk about it. I fi nd a lot of people are OK
Would you say that hunting is a privilege at this point in our society?
with what I am trying to share, but nobody has jumped out to
Yes. It is defi nitely a privilege. A lot of times, our people
say, “Man, let’s help you recruit more,” or, “Man, we need
can’t afford to do it. It’s hard for a lot of people to get past
more articles written about this.” Again, we are going to have
the economic factor.
to do this ourselves, recruit more and write more about it.
What can we do to increase the participation of Afro-Americans and
other minorities in hunting and the outdoors?
First of all, depict us in the outdoors. If you look in an
outdoors magazine, the only brother in it is some guy on a
Viagra ad. I mean, really. When people ask me that question,
about how we can increase participation of people of color
in hunting, I tell them: Depict us in the outdoors. They don’t.
Another thing we can do is adopt programs at the state
and local level to introduce people of color to the sport,
similar to the programs that have been set up to introduce
women and youth.
Do you think people of color are wary or apprehensive of enlisting the
help of such programs?
Yes. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We have to
meet people where they are. When an outfi tter or guide says
to you, “Sure, we’d love to have more colored guys get in on
things with us,” don’t get upset, just educate that man. We
have to work with outfi tters, guides and mentor programs.
No one is going to do this for us; we have to go out and do
this ourselves. And I’m OK with that. I don’t want anyone to
give us a handout. I just want them to open the door.
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Have you met many outdoors writers of color writing articles of such
nature?
No I have not. I have had a sports editor in Pittsburg write
about people of color getting involved in the outdoors, but he
was white. The only black writers I know of who’ve written
about this kind of stuff are myself and my son Donnell.
What do you think about hunting around the Eugene area?
The hunting around Eugene is good. Man, the turkeys
are about to overrun that place. I’ve been on two emergency
turkey hunts there already this year through the emergency
hunt program.
What would you say to people of color looking to get into hunting or the
outdoor pastimes?
Find a mentor or partner you can grow with. Read all you
can. Go to seminars. Book guided trips when you can afford
it, but mostly try to develop some partnerships. And as you get
older, think about buying your own property.
Dante Zúñiga-West is an Afro-Latino writer and outdoorsman known to some as
“The Backwoods Blaxican.” He grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and now
makes his home in Oregon. His fi ction has been published in various literary
journals. His novel Rumble Young Man Rumble is awaiting publication in 2014,
on Black Coffee Press.
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