1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Hello and Happy Saturday. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: Holly Fry. On June twenty, U S Secretary of the 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: Interior deb Holland announced that the Department of the Interior 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: is starting an investigation into the system of boarding schools 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: for Indigenous students that was run by the US government 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: and religious institutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and 7 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: the words of a bill titled Truth and Healing Commission 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: on Indian Boarding School Policy Act, which Holland introduced in 9 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: the House in quote. The Indian Boarding School Policy was 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: adopted by the United States government to strip American, Indian 11 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: and Alaska Native children of their indigenous identities, beliefs, and 12 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: traditional languages to assimilate them into white American culture through 13 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: federally funded Christian runs schools, which had the effect of 14 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: cultural genocide. This announcement came not long after the announcement 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: of a mass grave discovered at the site of the 16 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: former cum Loops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, Canada. 17 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: Canada's sist of residential schools was extremely similar to the 18 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: one in the United States. That discovery was announced in May, 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: and the grave is believed to contain the remains of 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: at least two hundred fifteen children. Another discovery of more 21 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: than seven hundred fifty unmarked graves at the site of 22 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: a former school in Saskatchewan was announced on June, and 23 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: a third discovery of a hundred and eighty two human 24 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: remains and unmarked graves and British Columbia was announced on June. 25 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: We've talked about these systems of schools in both the 26 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: US and in Canada on a number of episodes of 27 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 1: the show, most recently in our three part on Jim Thorpe. 28 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,479 Speaker 1: And given all of this recent news, we're re releasing 29 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: another episode that's related over the next two Saturdays. It 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: is our two part on the Fort Shot Indian School 31 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: girls basketball team, which originally came out November. And one 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: correction here when talking about the origins of basketball in 33 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: this episode, we say that Springfield College, where the it 34 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: was developed, was in Connecticut. Who was in Massachusetts. I 35 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: have no explanation for this mistake I made it. I 36 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,959 Speaker 1: typed a totally wrong word rather than typing the name 37 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: of the Commonwealth where I live. Well, you know, we 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: only type ten words a week, so they all are 39 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: perfect every time. Sure, so keep that correction in mind. 40 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: And here you go. Welcome to Stuff you missed in 41 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: History Class. A production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and 42 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm 43 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: Holly Frying. From time to time we get requests from 44 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: listeners for an episode about some kind of sports history, 45 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: and we do. I mean, we have episodes that are 46 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: related to the Olympic Games and some that are on 47 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: swimming and weightlifting, and several different types of racing, including 48 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: horses and speedboats and automobiles. We have not really talked 49 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: a lot about team sports, which I think is what 50 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: people are asking for when they ask for sports. Today's 51 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: subjects the Fort Shaw Indian School girls basketball team. They 52 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: became world champions in nineteen o four, which is pretty 53 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: early in the entire history of that sport. But the 54 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: story also plays out right in the intersection of two 55 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: other pretty big stories. There's the American Indian boarding school 56 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 1: program in the United States and also the nineteen o 57 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: four St. Louis World's Fair. So we're going to tackle 58 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: the story in two parts. In today's part one, we 59 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: have the background on this boarding school system that the 60 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw School was part of as well as how 61 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: basketball came to and flourished at the school. And then 62 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: in part two we will talk about how the team 63 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: became World champions while they were there. And as a 64 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: note at the beginning, we are going to be talking 65 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: about a lot of intentional efforts to quote American eyes 66 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: Indigenous children. And this is a weird word because the 67 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: word American can encompass the whole diversity of races and 68 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: ethnicities and cultures and religions. But these efforts to americanized 69 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: Native children, that was really only about one type of American, 70 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: one that was white, Christian and English speaking. So we're 71 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: we know that American means a lot of things besides that, 72 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: but in this context, that's what it was really about. 73 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: And also, if it's not obvious at this point, we're 74 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: gonna be talking about some pretty abhorrent views in this 75 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: episode the next one. Yeah, So when we use the 76 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: word American eyes in this context, no that we're referring 77 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: to that usage at the time someone else's very specific, 78 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: very narrow view of that. Fort Shaw, Montana began its 79 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: life in June of eighteen sixty seven as an outpost 80 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: which was called Camp Reynolds, and that was on land 81 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: that the United States had acquired from France through the 82 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: Louisi in a purchase, which of course took place in 83 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: eighteen o three. The following month it was renamed Fort 84 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: Shaw Military Reservation. It remained in operation as a fort 85 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: until eighteen The fort served to protect white travelers and 86 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,840 Speaker 1: traders and the troops garrison. There were an active fighting 87 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: force in the United States ongoing wars against the region's 88 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: Native nations and tribes. Yeah, those wars had really gone 89 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: on for centuries, and this is playing out towards the 90 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: end of those centuries of active warfare. Also after the 91 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: major removals of indigenous tribes from their home territories, like 92 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: the bulk of that had happened, but it was still ongoing. 93 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: So this is toward the end of that phase of history, 94 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: but still things related to it were going on. So 95 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: about a year after the Fort ceased military operations, the 96 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: Office of Indian Affairs converted it into a government boarding 97 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,679 Speaker 1: school for Native American children. The Fort Shot Indian School 98 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: became part of the nation's network of federal off reservation 99 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: boarding schools that were meant to americanize the Indigenous population. 100 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: The flagship of this system was Pennsylvania's Carlisle Indian School, 101 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,799 Speaker 1: which was established in eighteen seventy nine. Its founder, Lieutenant 102 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, believed that Native Americans would become 103 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: extinct if they didn't immediately conform to white culture. By 104 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: forcing them to do so, he thought he would save 105 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: the indigenous population. This is often summed up as quote, 106 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: kill the Indian and save the man. He's obviously not 107 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: the only person who thought this. There are other policymakers 108 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: who were of the same mindset. Pratt spoke at length 109 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: about this whole idea a little later on in his 110 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: career at the nineteenth Annual Conference of Charities and Correction, 111 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: and he gave an address that began quote, a great 112 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: general has said that the only good Indian is a 113 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has 114 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: been an enormous factor in promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, 115 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: I agree with the sentiment, but only in this that 116 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. 117 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: Killed the Indian in him, and save the man. Although 118 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: Carlisle was the most well known of these off reservation 119 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: boarding schools, it wasn't the first or only such effort. 120 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: Mission schools and other religious efforts go back almost at 121 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: the beginning of European colonization in North America, and we've 122 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: talked about some of these in past podcasts, including the 123 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: Harvard Indian School in Massachusetts and the Foreign Mission School 124 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: in Connecticut, and we'll link to both of those episodes 125 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: in the show notes church efforts to educate the indigenous population. 126 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: These earlier schools a lot of the time were at 127 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: least at first, more about spreading Christianity than about straight 128 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: out cultural assimilation, but that started to shift in the 129 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: early nineteenth century. In eighteen nineteen, Congress past the Civilization 130 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: Fund Act, and this act set aside funding for missionary 131 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: societies to run quote civilizing schools for Native Americans. Into 132 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: the end of the nineteenth century, hundreds of boarding and 133 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: day schools were built near and on reservation land, and 134 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: they had the dual mission of educating and so called 135 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: civilizing the native students. The government run off reservation boarding 136 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: schools like the ones at Carlisle and Fort Shaw, joined 137 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: this extensive network of boarding and day schools. Between eighteen 138 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: eighty and nineteen o two, the federal government built about 139 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: twenty five boarding schools that were physically removed from their 140 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: students reservations, sometimes by hundreds of miles, and collectively, all 141 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: these boarding and day schools, both on and off reservations, 142 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: had the same goal to remove all traces of Indigenous 143 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: culture from the Native population and replace it which with 144 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: that which was considered appropriately quote American. To do this, 145 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: the off reservation boarding schools removed Native children from their homes, families, tribes, 146 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: and cultures for periods of months or years. It was 147 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: just too far away a lot of the time for 148 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: people to go home, even for breaks. Students were held 149 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: to really strict scheduling and military style discipline. Classes were 150 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: taught only in English, and children who didn't already have 151 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: an English name were given one and called by that instead. 152 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: Indigenous languages and religious practices were all forbidden, and punishments 153 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: for breaking those rules were harsh and even abusive. The uniforms, meals, lessons, 154 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: and recreation were all meant to americanize the student's dress, speech, demeanor, 155 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: and beliefs, and many of the schools teachers and administrators 156 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: told the students that their native beliefs in ways of 157 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: life were wrong. And backward and evil and even savage. 158 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: This was such an explicit effort, Like at Carlisle they 159 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: even took before and after pictures after students arrived at school. 160 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: They would take before pictures of people in their own 161 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: traditional dress that they had come to the school in, 162 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: and then like give them haircuts and dressed them in 163 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: other clothes and take pictures afterwards. Most schools divided their 164 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: class time between academic and vocational instruction, under the idea 165 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: that students would graduate knowing some kind of productive trade. 166 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: So for the boys that might be things like blacksmith 167 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: ng and farming. For girls, the trade was often sewing 168 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: or domestic work. Some schools even hired out their students 169 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: labor while they were attending school. But even so, the 170 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: graduation rates were actually really low, and there were a 171 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: lot of limits to the so called assimilation that the 172 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: schools were enforcing. Even though the students were expected to talk, dress, 173 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: act and work like white people, once they graduated or 174 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: otherwise left the school, they were still considered to be 175 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: Native American. They were still subject to the same segregation 176 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: and discriminate as the rest of the indigenous population. In 177 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: addition to all of that, conditions at many of these 178 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: schools were very poor, and hundreds of students died of 179 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: disease and malnutrition, as well as of injury or exposure 180 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: after running away from the school. There have also been 181 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: numerous reports of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse taking place 182 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: at the schools over the decades. Sometimes Native parents really 183 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: had no other choice as to whether to send their 184 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 1: children to these boarding schools. In some cases, there just 185 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 1: wasn't another option available for getting an education, or life 186 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: was so difficult on the reservation that it seemed like 187 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: the choice was between boarding school and starvation. It is 188 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: obviously not really a choice. Some government Indian agents took 189 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: children by force or strongly pressured parents to send their 190 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 1: children to board boarding school. This was especially true when 191 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: it came to the leaders of tribes that had recently 192 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,199 Speaker 1: been at war with the United States. Their children were 193 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: aggressively recruited, sometimes taken without their consent, and sent to 194 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: far off boarding schools, almost as hostages. Simultaneously, though, there 195 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: were families who sent their children voluntarily, hoping that if 196 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: they received an education at a government school, learning English 197 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: in the ways of white society, they might return home 198 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,719 Speaker 1: to better advocate for their own people, and this was 199 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: especially true when it came to schools that had better 200 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: reputations in terms of how the students were treated or 201 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: weren't so far away from the rest of the community. 202 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: Somewhere between twenty thousand and thirty thousand children went to 203 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: federal off reservation boarding schools from the late eighteen hundreds 204 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: into the early nineteen hundreds. But at the same time, 205 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: roughly a hundred thousand Native Americans went to school through 206 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: similar Americanization efforts at on reservation boarding schools and day schools. 207 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: So during these decades, the Native children who were receiving 208 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: some kind of formal education were overwhelmingly doing so at 209 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: program that was meant to Christianize and quote americanize them. 210 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: The United States, we should mention, was not the only 211 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: nation to have schools and other programs like this. Canada, 212 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: for example, had a very similar system of residential schools 213 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: that began operating in about eighteen eighty and the last 214 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: of those actually closed in nineteen In Australia, so many 215 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: Indigenous children and children of Aboriginal descent were forcibly removed 216 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,599 Speaker 1: from their families that they became known as the Stolen generations. 217 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: There's actually a pretty old podcast about that back in 218 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: the archive, and we've gotten a number of requests related 219 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: to this in some way. Over the years, we have 220 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: gotten approximately an equal number of requests for the residential 221 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: school program in Canada and about specifically Carlisle School in 222 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: the United States. But like Carlisle, as we've just said, 223 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: was part of a much, much bigger system. So after 224 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: the break, we're going to talk more about Fort Indian 225 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: School specifically and how it wound up starting a basketball program. 226 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw Indian School was centrally located among eleven different 227 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: reservations that were scattered across four states. This included Colville, 228 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: Spokane and kurt Elaine in eastern Washington, Fort Hall in Idaho, 229 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: Wind River in Wyoming, and Blackfeet Flathead, Fort Bell, nap 230 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: for Peck Crow and Northern Cheyenne in Montana. Even though 231 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw was roughly central to all of these different reservations, 232 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: the closest ones were still more than a hundred miles away. 233 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw was actually a replacement for another school, a 234 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: government run day school on Fort Peck Indian Reservation, which 235 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: burned down in the federal government looked too recently vacated 236 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw because it would be easy and inexpensive to 237 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: turn it into a school. The officers quarters became housing 238 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: for faculty and staff. The barracks were student housing, and 239 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: since it had been a military base, had already had 240 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: other necessities like a mess hall, a chapel, a laundry, 241 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: and a hospital. Another bonus, from the government's point of 242 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: view was that long hundred plus mile journey home, and 243 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: some of them were from much farther away than a 244 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: hundred miles. The school was far enough away from all 245 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: of the reservations that its students came from that, in theory, 246 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: it would discourage students to visit home. It would discourage 247 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: family to come and visit students, both of which the 248 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: administrators thought might slow down the student's assimilation or cause 249 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: students to quote relapse into their native ways. They also 250 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: believed that this distance would deter students from trying to 251 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: run away. This was not entirely true. Children definitely tried 252 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: to and did run away from Fort Shaw After its 253 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: conversion into a school. For Shaw reopened on December two 254 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: for students ages five to eighteen. It's students included members 255 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: of numerous tribes and nations, including the Blackfeet, Chippewa, cree Crow, 256 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: Northern Cheyenne, Shoshonee, grovan A, Sinnaboine, and Sue. Many were 257 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: of multi tribal descent, and many had one white parents. 258 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: Although only some of the students spoke English upon arrival 259 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: at the school, nearly all of them spoke more than 260 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: one indigenous language as we sat at the top of 261 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: the show. A core element of Fort Shaw Indian School's 262 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: purpose was to remove students from their own cultural beliefs 263 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: and practices and instead assimilate them into white society. So 264 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: this included English and cultural instruction, along with some academic 265 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: and vocational classes, plus music, theater, and physical education. A 266 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: lot of the youngest students spent their first couple of 267 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: years learning English and white cultural norms before focusing on 268 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: any academic or vocational study vocate final classes weren't just 269 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: about teaching the children useful skills that could help them 270 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: earn a living once they graduated. They were also about 271 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: actually keeping the school running. The children's labor at Fort 272 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: Shaw included raising the vegetables and livestock that provided food 273 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: and milk for the school, sewing all of the school uniforms, 274 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: and laundering and mending them. They also made items that 275 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: were sold to earn money for the school. Girls learned 276 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: embroidery and lace making, while boys learned things like blacksmithing, 277 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: furniture making, and general carpentry. Their pe courses were also 278 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: separated by gender. The boys got to play team sports 279 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 1: along with doing track and field. The girls mainly had 280 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,159 Speaker 1: what was called physical culture. This is sort of a 281 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: cross between a health class calisthenics and European style gymnastics 282 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,679 Speaker 1: that was popular at the time. Josephine Langley, known as Josie, 283 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: was hired as an quote Indian assistant along with two 284 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,640 Speaker 1: other young women from the Blackfeet reservation in Josie wanted 285 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: to be a teacher and she hoped that by taking 286 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: this job as an assistant, she would be able to 287 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: work her way up the ladder. She had probably learned 288 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: to play basketball while studying at Carlisle Indian School, and 289 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: she introduced the sport at Fort Shaw around eight, at 290 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: first playing with a soccer ball and makeshift baskets until 291 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:24,199 Speaker 1: the school eventually approved the purchase of regulation equipment. Games 292 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: were played in the Army bases old dance hall, which 293 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: had a packed dirt floor and was easily big enough 294 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: to accommodate the court and the players. Basketball, which was 295 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: actually two words this point, was not just new to 296 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw Indian School. James Naismith had developed the sport 297 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 1: only about five years before its introduction there. He developed 298 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: it at Springfield College in Connecticut, which was also known 299 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: as the International Y m C. A training school. He 300 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: had been looking for a team sport that could be 301 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: played indoors, particularly during the winter months, when the college's 302 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: football teams regiment of calisthenics, marching and weight training was 303 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: just not sufficient to keep up their physique. Around the 304 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century, football was extremely violent. Teams 305 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: basically faced off against each other in a wedge formation, 306 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: and they kind of threw themselves at each other full force. 307 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: It was not at all something that could be played 308 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: in a confined space on an indoor surface without risking 309 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: even more injuries than were already happening during regular play. 310 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: So in creating basketball, nay Smith was trying to invent 311 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: a team sport that was fast paced and vigorous, but 312 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: did not involve large young men hurling themselves into one 313 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: another as hard as possible. That's kind of a side 314 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: note here. The football that Nate Smith was trying to 315 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: replace was also really new. The first college football game 316 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: is generally marked as happening between Princeton and Rutgers on 317 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: November six of eighteen sixty nine, although that initial game 318 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: was closer to soccer than to American football as we 319 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: know it today. This rugby soccer hybrid of American football 320 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 1: grew up over the next decade or so, and the 321 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,679 Speaker 1: Carlysle Indian school football team, which was founded in eight 322 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: played a big role in the evolution of that sport. 323 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,479 Speaker 1: On average, the car Lysle football players were much smaller 324 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: than the players on the teams that they played against, 325 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: and they came up with a ton of strategic tricks 326 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: to get around this disadvantage. If there wasn't a specific 327 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: rule against it, they would try it. There are still 328 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: American football rules today that came about as the Intercollegiate 329 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: Football Rules Committee outlawed Carlyle strategies in between seasons. I'm 330 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: just going to continue with this digression for a moment 331 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: to say that I do not care about football as 332 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: a sport. There are a lot of you know, social 333 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: and economic and medical and political issues around football that 334 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: I care a lot about but like it's, it would 335 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: take a lot to make me sit down and watch 336 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,200 Speaker 1: a football game all the way through uh eve. And 337 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: so this whole story of the Carlisle, Indian School football 338 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: team is fascinating and I want to do an episode 339 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: about it one day. Um Jim Thorpe, who's name in 340 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 1: the Fox language translated to bright Path, was the first 341 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: Native American to win a gold medal at the Olympics 342 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: for the United States. He was one of the players 343 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: and their strategies and the ways that they bent every 344 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: rule if it wasn't specifically outlawed, their coach Pop Warner 345 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: would would try it. So like that's the whole story 346 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: is just fascinating and bizarre and has stuff in it 347 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: like the Carlisle team sewing these leather football shaped patches 348 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: on their uniforms to trick Harvard into thinking they all 349 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: had the ball, and then Harvard retaliating by painting all 350 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: of the ball's maroon. It's it is a great story 351 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 1: and it's one of the few other things about team sports. 352 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 1: I might interest myself enough in doing podcast on it 353 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: sometime later. I like a little subverse and through sewing 354 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: that makes it super fun. Yeah, it's it's um, it's 355 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: it's fascinating anyway, So Nathanis original game of basketball to 356 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 1: get back to basketball had thirteen rules. We're not going 357 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: to read them all, but they included that the ball 358 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: could be thrown or batted with one or both hands, 359 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: but not with a fist, shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, and 360 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: striking opponents where all fouls as was hitting the ball 361 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,160 Speaker 1: with a fist. The game was played in two fifteen 362 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: minute halves with a five minute rest, but otherwise the 363 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: clock did not stop during play, so it was a 364 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,880 Speaker 1: very fast paced game, not a lot of stopping at 365 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: pretty low scoring compared to today, although it wasn't listed 366 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: in the thirteen original rules. The game started with a 367 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: jump ball or a tip off at center court, and 368 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: both teams returned to center court for another jump ball 369 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: after baskets were scored. Soon after Na Smith drafted the 370 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 1: first set of rules, women's colleges in the Northeast started 371 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: taking up basketball as well. Senda Baronson of Smith College 372 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: released an adapted rule set for women in eighteen ninety two. 373 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: In eighteen six she headed up a committee to create 374 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: an even further modified set of rules for girls, which 375 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: made the game so much easier and less intense that 376 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: a lot of programs, especially west of the Mississippi, just 377 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: ignored them and had the girls play by what we're 378 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: called the quote boys rules, especially for girls teams that 379 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:31,720 Speaker 1: had already been playing by the same rules as everyone else. Uh, 380 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 1: they were like, no, I'm not doing that. So the 381 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,919 Speaker 1: basketball program at Fort Shaw was actually the first basketball 382 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,719 Speaker 1: program organized in the state of Montana. It immediately became 383 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: immensely popular among the girls at the school. Physical games 384 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: played in teams were already a really important element of 385 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: pretty much all of their indigenous cultures. Basketball also had 386 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 1: some similarities to a number of Native girls games. These 387 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: include a double ball, which used a pair of balls 388 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: tethered together and then tossed from a stick, which was 389 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: exclusively a women's sport among most of the Planes tribes. 390 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: There was another game called shinny, which was a lot 391 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: like field hockey and used curved sticks, which was generally 392 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,120 Speaker 1: a women's rule or a women's game as well. Uh. 393 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: Some tribes also had versions of lacrosse that were played 394 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: by women. Basically, there were a lot of team sports 395 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,399 Speaker 1: with balls specifically played by women. Among a lot of 396 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: different indigenous cultures. Basketball was also a lot more fun 397 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: and physically active than physical culture class, and it was 398 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 1: the one time of day when students could really shed 399 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,800 Speaker 1: some of the school's cultural expectations. They could participate in 400 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 1: unladylike behavior like running and jumping with abandon. Although the 401 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: boys at the school had shown an initial interest in 402 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 1: basketball as well, soon the girls were outperforming them on 403 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: the court and their interest waned. They also had plenty 404 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,119 Speaker 1: of other team sports to choose from, whereas the girls 405 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,359 Speaker 1: did not because was no other basketball program in Montana 406 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,199 Speaker 1: at the time. For the first few years of basketball 407 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: at Fort Shaw Indian School, all of the games for 408 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,119 Speaker 1: intramural scrimmage matches. Even so, they were as popular with 409 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: the local community as they were with the girls at 410 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,439 Speaker 1: the school. At an end of year ceremony game in 411 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: eighteen seven, they did an intramural demonstration that brought in 412 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: three hundred spectators to watch. In eight Fred C. Campbell 413 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: became superintendent of Fort Shaw, and he seemed to have 414 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 1: had a genuine interest in making things better for the school, 415 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,479 Speaker 1: improving the school's image and that of his students, and 416 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,360 Speaker 1: he also wanted the community to begin seeing those students 417 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: in a different light. Racism against Native Americans was endemic 418 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: and severe, and Campbell recognized that all this work they 419 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: were doing to quote assimilate the students was not really 420 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: going to be effective if once those students graduated from 421 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: the school they were still shunned from white society. So 422 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: he started in vi people from the community to the 423 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: school and taking students out into the community to try 424 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: to basically get everyone used to each other hopefully change 425 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,880 Speaker 1: the hearts and minds within the community. So a natural 426 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: way to do this was by hosting basketball games. And 427 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk a little bit more about that, but 428 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: first we are going to pause and have a word 429 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: from one of our fantastic sponsors. In addition to being 430 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,479 Speaker 1: the superintendent of the school, Fred Campbell had been an 431 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: athlete himself. Some sources actually credit him with being the 432 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: one who introduced basketball at Fort Shaw, but it was 433 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,199 Speaker 1: definitely played there for a couple of years before he 434 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: became superintendent. From his own firsthand experience, he thought athletics 435 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: were a good way to build a person's self esteem 436 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: and sense of worth, on top of helping to develop 437 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: a strong and healthy body, So he focused on improving 438 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,439 Speaker 1: and building up all the school's athletics teams, but it 439 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: was really the girl's bath ketball team that he saw 440 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,439 Speaker 1: as having the most promise for bringing good publicity to 441 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: the school and its students. Basketball had barely made its 442 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 1: way into Montana at this point. There were so few 443 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: other teams to play against that the Fort Shaw girls 444 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,399 Speaker 1: team's first game against another school was actually against a 445 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 1: boys team, and that team was from Great Falls. Then 446 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,440 Speaker 1: Campbell organized another girls team in sun River, which was 447 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,919 Speaker 1: not far away, so the Fort Shaw team would have 448 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: someone else to play. When it was time for games, 449 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,400 Speaker 1: he would bring the sun River team in by wagon. 450 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw defeated sun River easily every time. Of course, 451 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: more more schools, more other programs started having basketball teams, 452 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 1: but to play against those other teams, the Fort Shaw 453 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: team had to start traveling farther and farther away. In 454 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: late nineteen o two, they traveled to Butte, Montana by wagon, 455 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: and then trained where they where they defeated the Mute 456 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 1: High team fifteen to nine. The next day they traveled 457 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 1: to Helena again by train, and this time they were 458 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: defeated fifteen to six. Again, I will point out how 459 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: much lower these scores aren' than what we would normally 460 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: see in a basketball game today. There's only one of 461 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: one digit three. I think that original basketball sound is 462 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: a little more my taste maybe than current basketball, because 463 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:27,880 Speaker 1: that is one of my things of like you could 464 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 1: just kind of watch the last bit because there's so 465 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: much scoring before that, which is not too in any way. 466 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: Throw shaded basketball if you love it, that's cool. That's 467 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: just always been my thing of like I could come 468 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: in for the last ten minutes, right um, that's when 469 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: it's really a nail biter. So after that loss though 470 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: at Helena, Campbell started refining the girls positions on the team. 471 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: He realized that Fort Shaw had lost the ball to 472 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: Helena in more than half of the jump balls at 473 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: center court, so he moved Nettie Worth, who wasn't the 474 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: tallest on the team but had a really incredible vertical jump, 475 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: to center. Nettie and her sister Lizzie were a Sinnaboine 476 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: and had been among Fort Shaw's first students when it opened. 477 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: This change was not quite enough to help Fort Shaw 478 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: defeat Beaute parochial school in the next game they played. 479 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: They lost that one fifteen to six, so Campbell made 480 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: another switch. He left Nettie Worth as center and he 481 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: made Many Burton and in a sense of her forwards. 482 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: Many was a member of the lem High Shoshony nation, 483 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: which was not actually in favor of sending children away 484 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: to government government boarding schools. But Many's father worked as 485 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: a translator and he thought that she could benefit from 486 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: getting an English education. Emma Sansor and her siblings were 487 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: actually Matee of French, Canadian and Chippewa Cree descent. They 488 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: were listed in their school records as Sue because their 489 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: particular people were essentially landless in the United States, they 490 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: were not part of a federally recognized tribe. Some of 491 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: the people at the mission school that they had attended 492 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: previously falsified the tribal affiliation to be able to get 493 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: them into the school, which, like we talked previously about 494 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: how there were all kinds of reasons for for children 495 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: to go to these schools, and this was a case 496 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: where Emma and her siblings were in dire financial straits 497 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: and so at the people who made this change to 498 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: their tribal affiliation, we're doing what they thought was best 499 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: for them. So this combination of girls and positions that 500 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: Campbell came up with became a winning one for Fort Shaw. 501 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: Their next game was against a college team, Montana State 502 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: University in Missoula, now known as the University of Montana. 503 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw won nineteen to nine, and from there they 504 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,479 Speaker 1: were undefeated for the rest of the season, playing at 505 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: least six more games, including against another college team, the 506 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: Montana Agricultural College Farmts, and resounding wins in rematches against 507 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: both Helena High School, which was ten victory, and Bute 508 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,040 Speaker 1: Parochial which was an eighteen to eight score. These games 509 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: were not all on the road. The school. While it 510 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: had that large dance hall that was great for their 511 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: own scrimmages and practices, they didn't really have a large 512 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: enough space to accommodate the crowds who started wanting to 513 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: see the games, so they started using Luther Hall and 514 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: Great Falls, Montana as their home game court. Luther Hall 515 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: was a ballroom that was big enough for the playing 516 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: area and hundreds of spectators. Great Falls is also about 517 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: twenty five miles away from the school, and since travel 518 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: to and from there had to happen by wagon, the 519 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: team and their uh, their chaperones and coach wind up 520 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: staying at a hotel, which was a treat for most 521 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 1: of them. Over the course of a few games Great Falls, 522 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,479 Speaker 1: Montana started to think of the Fort Shaw team as 523 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 1: their own home team. Although game coverage in the local 524 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: paper still drifted into casual racism, especially in descriptions of 525 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: the girls appearances and their quote savage winds, it started 526 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: to carry a little bit of a tone of local 527 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: pride and to focus more on the players other accomplishments 528 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: at school rather than the fact that they were quote Indian, yea, 529 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: they didn't. They didn't disguise the girls cultural heritage, but 530 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: it stopped being written about as though it were a 531 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: taboo or something to judge about them. In the end 532 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 1: of the three season, the Fort Shaw team had a 533 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: record of nine wins and two losses. The game of 534 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: basketball was still so new to the state of Montana 535 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: that there weren't official rankings or playoffs, but nevertheless, the 536 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw team was regarded as the state champions. Many 537 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: Burton had become so popular, especially for her scoring ability, 538 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: that spectators chant whenever they were playing was shoot many shoots. 539 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: The basketball games also gave the school an opportunity to 540 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: show off some other talents. The band and the mandolin 541 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: orchestra provided the before game and halftime entertainment. Sometimes, after 542 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 1: the games, the court was turned back into a dance floor, 543 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: or the girls showed off their skills in ballroom dancing. 544 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: All of this also brought in lots of coverage from 545 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 1: the local press. Of course, racism and prejudice still existed, 546 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: but the community started to see these students as talented 547 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: and capable rather than as uneducable troublemakers. In nineteen o three, S. M. 548 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:26,000 Speaker 1: Mcowen contacted Fred Campbell with an intriguing invitation. McCowen had 549 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: previously been superintendent of the Chillico Indian School, but he 550 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: had recently moved into a new role, director of the 551 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: Model Indian School that was being created for the St. 552 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: Louis World's far mcowen asked Campbell to select some of 553 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: Fort Shaw's best students to participate in the Model School, 554 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: which was going to run from June one to November one, 555 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: nineteen o four, and Campbell agreed. But that becomes a 556 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: whole other story, So we're gonna talk about what this 557 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: agreement meant for the basketball team and how it led 558 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: to their becoming World champions in part two of this podcast, 559 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: I'm excited for part to you me too. It's a 560 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: really fun story. You don't I mean when you think 561 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,720 Speaker 1: about this being a completely new sport relief for people, 562 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,359 Speaker 1: and now it completely shifted perceptions. I have a new 563 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:23,279 Speaker 1: appreciation for basketball. I really admire the girls and young 564 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,239 Speaker 1: women who played on this team. We're gonna get to 565 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 1: talk more about them next time. To heay so much 566 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is 567 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: out of the archive, if you heard an email address 568 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:41,840 Speaker 1: or Facebook U r L or something similar over the 569 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: course of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our 570 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: current email address is History Podcast at I heart radio 571 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,960 Speaker 1: dot com. Our old health stuff works email address no 572 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,760 Speaker 1: longer works, and you can find us all over social 573 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: media at missed in History and you can subscribe to 574 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: our show the Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, the I heart 575 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:09,280 Speaker 1: Radio app, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. 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