- My grandfather was very, he was kind of his own person, I'll put it like that.

(upbeat music) They didn't have phones back then in the Charlestown area.

When his mom wanted to send a message a family message to her sisters, or brothers, or other family member within the Narragansett tribe, they would send him to run and deliver the message.

And a lot of the aunts and uncles said when he would get there, he'd tell them the message and then he'd sit down and invite himself for dinner.

(Anna laughing) - Ellison Meyers Brown, which is his actual name, his nickname as a child was Tarzan He was a phenomenal athlete and won many, many races in his lifetime But he's most noted because he won the Boston Marathon in 1936.

At that time, on that level, he was an unknown.

There was a reporter that did like a one-liner, something like "Keep an eye out for the Indian from Rhode Island He ran out ahead and was in the lead, but then over time lost the lead to Johnny Kelley, who was the favorite to win that year The story goes that Johnny Kelley went by him and said something like, "Better luck next time, young'un," and went on his way.

Tarzan then caught up to Johnny Kelley on the hills of Newton and bypassed him and won the race which is why the hills of Newton are now known as Heartbreak Hill It's because Tarzan Brown broke Johnny Kelley's heart by beating him on that hill and winning the Boston Marathon.

(attendees faintly speaking) (attendees clapping) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] And over 500 entries in this road race in the 50th running of th Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run, honoring one of the greatest runners in the world, Ellison Tarzan Brown.

- I'm Tarzan's oldest nephew living nephew right now.

Well, just to see his name being mentioned, to me, it's great for our family, for our tribe, and I even think for the city of Mystic here to have this race in his honor.

To me, they didn't forget who he was (attendees cheering) He set a path, I think, for many other runners to follow He grew up poor.

He had nothing, started from scratch The only way that he was to get out of poverty, I guess, was through running.

Running just kind of made him who he was.

- The runners today who win, they've got the picture on the Cheerios boxes, they have running endorsements for sneakers or clothing lines.

The runners in the Depression had none of that.

They ran for the love of the sport.

Jobs were hard to come by, but especially being an Indian in this area, because a lot of people didn't want to hire you, they would have signs in the window "No Indians," and things like that So he was hoping that from winning the marathon, he could bring attention and he could get a job.

My grandmother said one time he won a Frigidaire, so he came in second so that he could get the Frigidaire Another time, he came in second so he could get the his and her matching (laughing) He came home and tossed my grandmother hers and said, "Here, I got this bathrobe for you."

- He did unorthodox things.

You know, he would run in training, run to Westerly, run to South Kingstown.

He would run barefoot sometimes.

He would run in a race and get overheated and jump in the river or the lake and take a swim and get out and still beat everybody When he won, they wanted to do an Ellison Tarzan Brown Day, and he told them, "No, it needs to be named for my people, because that's more important."

(light music) - In state records, you're not gonna find anything about the Narragansett people after 1880 until 1898, and then from 1898, not until they issue Indian Day.

So what the heck happens to make this dramatic change from this very aggressive Supreme Court decision, right, at the turn of the century that says, "No, they do not exist.” to the 1930s where they're saying "Oh yeah, they exist."

(upbeat music) What happens in that time is that there's this really talented runner.

He looks somewhat like the typical Western image of Native People.

So when people saw him running and he had like his dark skin and his straight hair and his features and they were like, "Oh yeah, he looks like a Native."

- Not only did Ellison win the Boston Marathon and put us not on a local stage, not on a regional stage, not just on a national stage, but an international stage, while we're invisible as a people when we've been de-tribalized, right That's really important, 'cause at that point, they're writing in history books that we don't exist.

They are saying we don't exist, because on their paper genocide, we don't exist.

But the people and the government of that people all still exists.

And so Ellison Tarzan Brown was integral in raising the visibility of the Narragansett people.

(attendees cheering and clapping - [Announcer] Runners ready.

Here we go, the kids' race is underway - In 1975, my grandfather had died They approached my grandmother and asked if they could name a race in his honor.

It's so heartwarming.

It's an experience that yo wouldn't be able to appreciate unless you were here in my shoes being one of the grandchildren.

He's an unsung hero.

Some people have heard about Tarzan Brown, a lot have not.

But people are becoming more aware of him now as time is going on.