Native American's journey from reservation to outer space

Native American astronaut John Herrington is getting a closer look at New Zealand than when he flew 300km above it three years ago.

For someone who had never set foot in New Zealand, Commander John Herrington has seen a lot of the country.

The last time was three years ago, "about 200 miles [322km] out" peering from a window of the space shuttle Endeavour. Then he was impressed by the "beautiful mountains" traversing the South Island and inspired by the islands of the Pacific, which looked like "little jewels" ringed by "turquoise seas".

As a guest speaker yesterday at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in Hamilton, he was glad for the chance to see New Zealand from the ground.

Mr Herrington is the first Native American to walk in space, as a member of a 2002 NASA mission to extend the backbone of the International Space Station.

The Chickasaw Nation member had a simple message for the hundreds of young people and conference delegates who turned out at Waikato University to hear him speak: Live your dreams.

Speaking before the conference, Mr Herrington said spaceflight was just developing when he was a child.

"When I grew up in the 60s I had a dream of going to space. It was a dream I had, but it was one I did not think I could fulfil."

He said life for Native Americans in the 1950s and 60s was a time of alienation from their culture and pressure to assimilate.

"I moved away from my culture as a kid. I did not learn the language. The 40s, 50s and 60s were times of not speaking the language. My grandmother would only speak it to people of her generation. You did not speak it to anyone else. We lived on different reservations."

He said his average achievement at high school continued at university, where he was eventually asked to leave because of poor results.

Mr Herrington said it was the support of a boss who saw his potential that sent him back to university.

"The key to success for all young people is motivation and mentoring.

"You have to be motivated. You can't succeed without motivation, but you need mentors to stay motivated."

The avid rock-climber and retired Navy commander who now is chief test pilot for the XP Spaceplane is thankful for the support of strong role models who he credits for allowing him to successfully reach for the stars.

"It has a phenomenal impact on how you see your place in the world. You see places you grew up, but you can't see any of the people who live there. It gives you a real sense of your insignificance in the great scheme of things."