Ardis Cecil

Just years after the game of basketball was invented, an all-girls team of Indigenous players was going full-court — in woolen dresses. The Fort Shaw Indian Girls Basketball Team blazed a trail for those who’d come after them. So — what made the team so special? MTPR’s Victoria Traxler caught wind of the team and wanted to find out.

More than 100 years ago, the first women’s basketball team in Montana made history traveling around the state and the country. Now, the town of Fort Benton is honoring the team’s legacy with a new mural.