Fort Shaw Indian School

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.

Over 100 years ago, the Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team made history playing games across the state and becoming world champions in 1904. MTPR’s Victoria Traxler reports on the celebration honoring the players and their descendants.

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.

Montana’s Legislature has passed a joint resolution recognizing the history of American Indian boarding schools and calling on the U.S. government to create a national day of remembrance. A proposal aiming to eliminate legal protection for abortion is headed to the governor.

Around 1892, two new entities serendipitously collided. One was Fort Shaw Indian School west of Great Falls. The other was the sport of basketball.