Basketball rallies against the stolen relatives epidemic

There are moments in sports that go beyond the emotions and thrill of the game that ask us to think about our community and the battles we face that define our identity.  

One ongoing battle our community faces is the number of missing and murdered indigenous people.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams came together last week to bring awareness to the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people. The event brings together tribal members and basketball spectators to raise awareness of the issue. The women’s team has been promoting this game annually since senior Kola Bad Bear started her freshman year and advocated for it. This is the first year that the men’s team has promoted the cause at one of their games. 

“For Danny Sprinkle to give it the go and take this all in it meant a lot, especially I’m sure for RaeQuan Battle as well. He’s also Native American,” Bad Bear said.

MMIW stands for missing and murdered Indigenous women. This movement advocates for the end of violence against native women. “It also seeks to draw attention to the high rates of disappearances and murders of native people, particularly women and girls,” said Darrin Old Coyote, former chairman of the Crow Tribe, at both the men’s and women’s basketball games on Feb. 4 and Feb. 11. 

Bad Bear’s influence as both an athlete and co-president of the MSU Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Student Association (MMIPSA), has been an important tool for spreading awareness of the issue. “Using the platform I have, I know a lot of people watch sports and a lot of people attend the basketball games.” Bad Bear said. “I like to feel that I’m more than an athlete, and with people knowing my name I want to use my voice to speak for those who don’t necessarily have one.” 

Her mission is an immense one, and during the game Old Coyote spoke on the magnitude of the epidemic and why the athletes wore red shirts. “The powerful image of the red handprint has come to symbolize the movement as a way to represent the thousands of women who have been silenced.”

The movement as a whole speaks for those who do not, or no longer have a voice, it “seeks to draw attention to the high rates of disappearances and murders of Native people, particularly of women and girls.” Old Coyote said. 

Dances and songs from Native American culture were performed in full regalia during intermissions at both games. The men’s game opened with the Bobcat Singers performing a flag song and warrior dances. At half time another song and dance were performed. “it was really important to have four generations of women [perform] because our women are the main people that go missing, and they are our lifeline so being able to have the generations and to sing the flag song, they mean a lot, and being able to have the healing dances with this hard topic is really important,” said Maleeya Knows His Gun, co-president of the MMIPSA. These words also rang true not only at the men’s game but at the women’s game the following weekend. 

During the women’s game the Bobcat singers were joined by dancers from Plenty Coup High School, Arrow Creek Elementary Indian Club, the Hardin High School Indigenous Club and MSU alum and family. The dances are, “an amazing thing, especially with the focus on the epidemic, but it also shines a light on the beautiful culture as well,” Bad Bear said. 

Bad Bear has partnered with The Bobcat Collective, which serves MSU athletes in their name image license agreements to support her message. A portion of the proceeds raised from her apparel will be donated to the MMIPSA here at MSU. You can find her apparel at,www.thenilshop.co/product-category/kola-bad-bear-mmip/. 

For those that want to support the mission of the MMIPSA, or want to learn more they can visit their instagram, @msu_mmipsa.

As an athletics community and a larger community, “We just want to bring awareness because not a lot of people know about this, and know that our people are going missing, not being looked for, not being searched for, it’s something that not only happens in Montana but all over Canada and the United States as well,.” Knows His Gun said