Dan Ninham Hall of Fame Induction, and Medicine Ball’s National Release

Transcript

[Music: Minnesota Native News Theme]

Marie Rock: For Minnesota Native News, I'm Marie Rock. This week, we hear from Dan Ninham, who was recently inducted into the Minnesota Basketball Association's Hall of Fame, and we get a sneak peek of a new documentary about natives, boarding schools, and basketball. First, reporter Travis Zimmerman caught up to longtime basketball coach and educator Dan Ninham to congratulate him on his new recognition. He's also a Minnesota Native News producer.

Travis Zimmerman: Recently, Dan Ninham became one of the newest inductees into the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame. Dan admitted that this induction means a lot to him.

Dan Ninham: To be acknowledged by your peers is really the utmost honor that you can have. I think of the selection committee, I understand unanimously chose me. That's awesome to be able to be recognized by your peers. Honored to be honored.

Travis Zimmerman: Basketball has been a part of Dan's life for over 50 years. Dan is from the Oneida Nation and played basketball in high school and college before starting his coaching career.

Dan Ninham: Had a wide variety, diverse coaching stints throughout my career for almost 35 years, I guess. And where that took us in the beginning was Fort Wingate, New Mexico. I was an assistant varsity coach at Wingate High School, the largest BIA boarding school in the country.

Travis Zimmerman: Eventually, Dan became the coach at Cass Lake-Bena High School. After taking a couple years off to pursue his educational degree, Dan returned to coach again at Cass Lake-Bena.

Dan Ninham: And when I would return, I ended up developing pressure defense and high scoring offense. And we ended up having success going to the state tournament five out of the next six years from 2005 to 2010.

Travis Zimmerman: Coach Ninham hasn't measured the success he's had with players based solely on wins and losses.

Dan Ninham: We've had a number of top players in the state of Minnesota and a number of them that went on to college. One of the philosophies of measuring success is that you look at where your players are 10, 20, 30 years later.

Travis Zimmerman: For Minnesota Native News, I'm Travis Zimmerman.

Marie Rock: Next, a Dakota/Dine filmmaker from Minnesota is about to screen her fourth documentary on national television. Reporter Laurie Stern saw the film and spoke with producer/director Leah Hale.

Leya Hale: Hau, mitakuyepi. Chante wasteya nape chiyuzapi. Hello, my relatives. I greet you all with a warm handshake. My name is Leah Hale and I come from...

Laurie Stern: Leya Hale's new film is called Medicine Ball. It follows two Native athletes through a year of discovery. They learned that their campus, the University of Minnesota Morris in West Central Minnesota, used to house an Indian boarding school and that some of their relatives were sent there. But they also learned that the sport of basketball provided Native people a way to resist assimilation.

Syd Beane: Basketball was a way of liberating us, because much of it included our traditional sports of running and jumping and throwing.

Laurie Stern: That is Syd Beane, a Dakota elder, historian, and Producer of Medicine Ball. In the film, he talks with the student athletes about how boarding school residents made basketball their own. In fact, the sport helped them form connections with athletes from other tribes. and those connections help them fight assimilation. The Director, Leya Hale, has a lot in common with the athletes in the film. She's Dakota and Dine, she plays basketball. But she grew up in the Los Angeles area, and her grandparents were sent to the Sherman Indian School, and they talked to her about what they gained from the experience.

Leya Hale: Cultural influences and cultural exchanges. that really allowed my grandparents to thrive in the city. So I think it's necessary for us to learn from the positives and the negatives when it comes to the boarding school era.

Laurie Stern: Leya Hale's leadership has been recognized by the Sundance Institute and the Bush Foundation.

Leya Hale: It's time to start carving spaces for Native people to share those uplifting stories, to demonstrate to the young people that It's possible by relying on each other, community, cultural exchanges to overcome a lot of challenges that you face.

Laurie Stern: Medicine Ball will be available on PBS stations starting November 9th.

For Minnesota Native News, I'm Laurie Stern.

Marie Rock: That's all for this week's episode. Join us next time for more voices and stories that inform, uplift, and shape our communities.

[Music: Minnesota Native News Theme]

Minnesota Native News is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.