Medicine Ball Documentary Shows How Native Basketball Carries Culture Forward
Native basketball carries our culture forward. A new film proves it. PBS will premiere Medicine Ball on Monday, November 9, at 10 p.m. Eastern on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS app. Directed by Dakota and Diné filmmaker Leya Hale, the Medicine Ball documentary follows University of Minnesota Morris players Lexus Redthunder of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and LeRoy Staples-Fairbanks IV of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The Medicine Ball Documentary Faces Boarding School History
The Morris campus carries a hard story. UMN Morris records that the Sisters of Mercy opened an American Indian boarding school there in 1887, and the federal government ran it from 1897 until it closed in 1909. When the land passed to Minnesota, the transfer required that American Indian students be admitted free of tuition. That American Indian Tuition Waiver still stands, and it is a promise worth keeping.
Native Basketball Builds Pride and Discipline
According to the film’s announcement, Redthunder and Staples-Fairbanks balance college life and the court on ground where Native children once attended a government boarding school. Hale said, “I hope audiences see the strength, joy, and cultural pride that live alongside the harder parts of this story.” Every reservation gym knows that feeling. Practice teaches discipline, teammates become family, and a packed bleacher on game night reminds young people they belong to something bigger.
Own Our History and Celebrate Native Excellence
Sovereignty begins with knowing who we are. Honest history paired with hard work gives our youth a path forward. NASP has written about basketball as a symbol of unity and pride in our communities. Watch Medicine Ball on November 9 and cheer these two students on! Our story is still being written.
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