I first learned of the organization, Hunters of Color, from my good friend, Randy Newberg, who was one of the very few in the outdoor community (that I knew of, anyway) who posted a ‘blackout’ post in May, 2020. That triggered something in our community. Hunters of Color (HOC) is starting to feel it, I can feel it, and I hope you can, too. I would not do service highlighting all the great things HOC has done in the past two years, so I asked Lydia Parker, HOC’s Executive Director, to answer a few questions. I encourage you to follow HOC on Instagram and you can even support them on Patreon. Any action with a heart of love is all good from my end…isn’t that what He directed us? (Just read Matthew 22:(36-40) to know what I mean) Michelle Scheuermann, editor, Archery Wire.

1. Lydia, first can you share the mission behind Hunters of Color (HOC), why it started and who founded it?

Hunters of Color’s mission is to create a more equitable hunting community for people of color by dismantling barriers to entry through educational opportunities, mentorship, and by providing resources to new hunters. Hunters of Color (HOC) was founded by three friends: Myself (Lydia Parker), Jimmy Flatt, and Thomas Tyner. It all began in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay area, where Jimmy grew up. The Bay is the second most diverse place in the country, so Jimmy, the son of immigrants from Venezuela and the Philippines, fit right in– most of the time. At the age of eight, however, Jimmy began to hunt, and he began to stand out. He noticed the stark contrast and lack of diversity compared to everything else he knew about the Bay. Jimmy’s observations were confirmed when, in 2016, the USFWS released a demographic study that showed that 97% of hunters in the US identify as white. Instantly, Jimmy knew he wanted to find a way to bring more people who looked like him into hunting.

Around this same time, Jimmy met Thomas and me at Oregon State University. Thomas and I both grew up in the state of Oregon, which is 76% white. So Thomas, who is Black, and myself, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka from the Walker-Mohawk band, knew what a lack of diversity was like in a state that is only 2% Black and 1% Indigenous. When Jimmy called Thomas in 2019 to pitch the idea of HOC, he was all in. He said he was often the only Black person on the mountain when he’d go big game hunting. As for me, I grew up with a dad who is Indigenous and a mom who is white. Neither were hunters. With my parent’s different backgrounds juxtaposed, I learned how to shoot and fish at a young age, but never learned to hunt. That is, until I met Jimmy and Thomas and became part of their proof of concept for the HOC Mentorship Program.

With Jimmy’s hunting knowledge and passion, Thomas’ web design and photography skills, and my background in nonprofit management and desire to help reconnect Indigenous people to the earth, the three of us got Hunters of Color off the ground. HOC was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020, aimed at assessing and dismantling barriers to entry for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) to enter the outdoors through hunting and conservation in order to make the hunting community more diverse and better equipped to tackle the environmental challenges we face today.

2. Why is HOC so needed right now?

In reality, HOC was probably needed 40 years ago! When Jimmy first approached me with the idea for HOC, I said, “That has to already exist.” We were shocked to find that there were affinity

We believe this work is so important right now for a few reasons. First of all, because time is of the essence. According to the US Census, the United States will be more than 50% BIPOC by the year 2045. That means that if hunting continues to be overwhelmingly white, a fraction of less than half of the country will be participating in hunting. This will result in fewer people participating in conservation, wildlife management, and less funding for conservation efforts.

Currently, hunting contributes around $1.6 billion a year to conservation. If we are to continue with this model of funding, the hunting community needs to be intentional about recruiting folks who may not look the same, pray the same, love the same, or vote the same way. Our work is important because we’re building bridges between communities who might otherwise not have exposure to one another. As I always say, you can’t care about something you don’t know about. That goes for the outdoors, and I believe that goes for our fellow humans as well.

And speaking of a human perspective, our work is important because our communities want to learn to hunt. According to a 2018 study called America’s Wildlife Values, BIPOC youth show great interest in hunting: 32% of Indigenous youth, 18% of Black youth, 16% of Hispanic/Latinx youth, and 11% of Asian youth want to learn to hunt. This gives me hope for the future of hunting and conservation, but wanting to learn to hunt and actually being presented the opportunity to learn to hunt are two different things entirely. I sometimes see people cite these studies and say, “The future of hunting will be diverse,” and I hope they are right. But I don’t think we can be laissez faire. The work HOC is doing is important because we are breaking down barriers, and creating paths to the outdoors for BIPOC youth and parents today. If we aren’t intentional in our recruitment of BIPOC, what is to make these kids any different from their parents’ generation who didn’t learn to hunt because of the barriers to entry? If 97% of hunters are white, and 75% of white Americans don’t have any BIPOC friends, how are we supposed to gain the exposure, knowledge, and access to resources necessary to learn to hunt, if not for organizations like Hunters of Color?

Lastly, it is important because it is our right to be able to hunt. Hunting is ingrained in the DNA of us all. We quite literally would not exist today if our ancestors weren’t successful hunters. But the right to access the outdoors has not been equally applied to all people throughout the history of our country. Starting with the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from our homelands and lifeways, to the exclusion of people of color from partaking in certain outdoor activities such as swimming, visiting national parks, or hunting certain species, all the way down to root causes like racially inequitable real estate practices that have led us to a US where BIPOC only own 2% of all private land, BIPOC have not been able to enjoy this right to hunt at the same rate as our white siblings. At Hunters of Color, we are addressing these issues that have led to the racial discrepancies in hunting that we see today by ensuring that BIPOC have equitable opportunities to participate in the outdoors.

3. Share with us some of your successes from the past two years.

This year, we’ve hit several milestones, but I’ll try to list a few:

• We raised enough in donations to start paying our founders (rather than making them pay for everything), making our mission more sustainable, beyond just a passion project.
• We recently launched our Ambassador Program in eight different states (CA, KY, NM, NY, SC, WA, WI, WV) so that our Mentorship Program can have greater impact and outreach nationwide.
• We were invited to speak at a listening session with the Department of the Interior, and shared about the importance of Indigenous science in conservation, and the need for safety for BIPOC in the outdoors.
• We presented at the 87th Annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference about the shortcomings of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, and how we can create a more inclusive path forward together.
• We’ve built strong relationships and partnerships with organizations and individuals in the outdoor community, and none of the work we’re doing would be possible without the support of our donors and partners.

We’ve got many more events (and surprises) planned for this year, so be sure to stay tuned and sign up for our newsletter on our website!

4. How can Archery Wire readers support you and HOC?

Thank you for asking, and thank you Archery Wire readers for reading! You can support in several ways:

1. Follow us @huntersofcolor on social platforms and share our content with your friends

2. Volunteer at some capacity:

1. Sign up to be a mentor to teach people how to hunt
2. Join the HOC community in your area
3. Fill out the Volunteer Application on our website to share nonprofit/business expertise

3. Donate:

• Financially support our mission at https://www.huntersofcolor.org/
• Donate land access for our Mentorship Program
• Donate new or used hunting gear for our mentees

4. Buy and wear HOC gear to declare “The Outdoors are for Everyone” (available on our website)

5. Invite diverse voices like HOC to sit at decision making tables in your sphere of influence

Lastly, keep learning and always be curious. Check out the FAQ page on our website. Continue asking hard questions. Challenge your presuppositions about things like race and equity. And make a conscious effort to practice empathy towards every living thing. We have so much to learn from one another, and we are so much stronger when we work together. The Outdoors are for Everyone!