Well, that's what I normally say. After some reflection, I think it's because since I'm nearly six feet tall, everyone expects me to be good at basketball and I'm just not. I grew up in an area where you had to start dribbling a ball before you came out of the womb and I wasn't interested in sports until late middle school. I still laugh because my mom calls me the "jock" of the family, since I swam competitively and played softball in high school. I play on the flag football team at seminary and I played in a community ultimate frisbee league in Chicago. All these sports aren't basketball though.
In the last two weeks, I've gone to two local basketball games. The first was Red Cloud Indian School against St. Thomas More High School. It was fascinating to watch the game for a couple of reasons.
1.) I realized that basketball is a lot more exciting in person, in a fast-paced game.
a.) I apologize for my earlier statement about hating basketball.
2.) I am curious about the difference between the students at a private Catholic high school on the Reservation versus students at a private Catholic high school in Rapid City. Red Cloud has a fantastic reputation as the best school on the Reservation. Nearly 100% of graduates have a post-graduation plan and 57 students have been awarded the Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship, the highest per capita in the country (got this info from their website). Tuition is $100 a year at Red Cloud and many get scholarships for that $100. Tuition at St. Thomas More for "active Catholics" is $5,362; tuition for "inactive Catholics and non-Catholics is $6,751. While this basketball game was known as the "Bishop's Bowl" because of the two Roman Catholic schools playing each other, the students clearly came from different realities.
3.) I realized that my "normal" here when I'm in a large room filled with lots of people, such as a gymnasium, is for a wake or funeral. I actually looked for the casket when I first walked into the gym.
a.) I need to get out more.
The second game I attended recently was between Red Cloud Indian School and Pine Ridge High School. This was another fascinating game, because it was scheduled for February 9th in Rapid City. Now, why would two schools from the Reservation, only a 10-15 minute drive apart, go all the way to Rapid City, about two hours away, to play a high school basketball game? This is especially interesting since plenty of people around here don't have the extra money to put gas into their tanks to drive all the way there.
Apparently, the rivalry between these two schools is so great that this game hasn't been playing on the Reservation in 23 years. The problem isn't in the teams playing on the court, but it's in the fans.
On Saturday the 9th, we were predicted to get eight inches of snow, with another three inches on Sunday. We didn't get that much, but we got enough to reschedule the game. This infamous game was rescheduled for Monday, the 11th, at Pine Ridge High School. My friend Ashley teaches at Red Cloud, so she invited me to come along with her. We went early, since rumors were that normally these two teams play each other in a place that houses 2,100 people; PRHS gym can seat 800 people. We showed up for the 6pm girls' game at 5:20pm and the line zig-zagged several times and wound out to the school driveway.
We made the cut to get inside and crammed into our bleacher seats with the rest of the town. The president of the tribe, Brian Brewer, was asked to speak before the game began. I'm not sure if this is typical for games here, but it seemed special. He said he believed that the game had to be rescheduled on the Reservation because it was time to end this fighting. "Mitakuye oyasin!"--We are all related! This is so true. Many families split their kids between Red Cloud and Pine Ridge. After a serious warning to all of us fans to behave and support the teams, Brian Brewer made a few jokes about how he used to have a girlfriend at both Red Cloud and Pine Ridge! He also ended his speech by saying how much he loves watching Lakota play Lakota in basketball. "There is nothing like it in the rest of the world!" He exclaimed.
It was awesome to be a part of this historic event, knowing how important this game was to all involved, but that "mitakuye oyasin" was at the center of it all.
Red Cloud Crusaders wear blue; Pine Ridge Thorpes wear red. As a true pacifist, I wore green.
GO RED PINE CLOUD RIDGE!
Photograph taken from http://socialismartnature.tumblr.com/post/36289138227/mitakuye-oyasin-all-are-related-a-traditional
Here's the news article about the game.
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