Linda Peavy

The Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team navigated boarding school and forced assimilation while becoming a team of skilled athletes, artists and 1904 world champions. Now, more than 120 years later, the team is inspiring new generations and helping people connect with their families and their own cultural identities. Learn more about the team's legacy and why it resonates so strongly, on this episode of The Big Why.

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.