Medicine Ball, a new documentary by Twin Cities PBS, will be screened at the University of Minnesota Morris on March 23.
Medicine Ball follows UMN Morris students Lexus Redthunder ‘26, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Sisseton, SD, and LeRoy Staples-Fairbanks IV ’26, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Cass Lake, on their educational and athletic journeys, discovering that basketball transcends sport and is a symbol of hope and a source of empowerment for Native communities.
Medicine Ball Director Leya Hale explains that ”the film delves into the deeper roots of basketball within Native communities, particularly in relation to the history of boarding schools. The University of Minnesota Morris, with its profound historical connection to a former Native boarding school, provides a unique and compelling setting for this story.” She adds, “Through these students' stories, we aim to highlight the resilience, hope, and empowerment that basketball has brought to Native communities, from its origins in boarding schools to its current role in the lives of these young (people).”
Hale, who is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota on her mother’s side and Diné on her father’s, says that the idea for the film was first introduced to her by Syd Beane, a Flandreau Santee Sioux Dakota elder, who would also be featured in the film, and was inspired by the book, Native Hoops: The Rise of American Indian Basketball, 1895 to 1970.
The Morris community screening of Medicine Ball is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are requested.
The event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. in Oyate Hall, followed by the film screening at 7 p.m. in Edson Auditorium. A panel discussion with the director, the student athletes, and Dakota elder Syd Beane, will follow the film.
UMN student involvement
Hale’s approach to creating this film was to intertwine contemporary stories with history so that the audience could better understand how the past continues to shape the present. With that in mind, Hale’s research on current Native college athletes led her to UMN Morris, where she began attending basketball games and eventually was introduced to Redthunder and Staples-Fairbanks.
“Their leadership, lived experiences, and willingness to reflect on the layered history of the campus made them natural anchors for the film,” says Hale. “They are not just featured athletes. They represent the living continuation of a story that began generations ago.”
For Redthunder, who is majoring in Native American and Indigenous studies and political science, being invited to participate in the Medicine Ball documentary was “an incredibly rare and meaningful opportunity. It allowed me to share not only my own experiences as a student athlete but also my family's story.”
Redthunder’s great-grandmother attended the Morris Industrial School for Indians.
“Knowing that [my great-grandmother attended the Morris boarding school] gives my time at UMN Morris a personal and historical significance,” says Redthunder. “Her legacy is integral to who I am.”
While much of the conversation surrounding boarding schools highlights intergenerational trauma, Redthunder also saw this as a way to help bring attention to the strength, resilience, and perseverance that has been passed along through her family and her community.
“As one of my professors once told me, ‘healing in the present contributes to healing in the past.’ Being able to share our story felt significant, not only as a way to honor the past but also as a way to contribute to its ongoing healing and to show how these legacies continue to shape and inspire the present.”
As a student and an athlete at UMN Morris, Redthunder has been able to stay connected to her family's history and cultural identity while navigating her own path.
“Graduating [from UMN Morris] this spring as a first-generation student, my diploma feels like more than an achievement for me. It's a milestone for my family and the rez kids back home who see me as someone they can look up to. Through academics, athletics and community life, I've been able to honor my roots, carry forward a legacy of resilience, and contribute to a campus environment that values inclusion and growth.”
For Staples-Fairbanks, a sport management major, the decision to be part of the documentary was important to him for many reasons, but it wasn’t until actually being in the documentary that the full impact of the experience really hit him.
“It allowed me to feel seen while holding the responsibility of sharing and representing our culture’s history—and how we are still striving today.”
He also felt like it was an opportunity to help tell a side of the Native American story that doesn’t always get told.
“[It] made me realize that I am strengthening my culture through academics and athletics, and I became more reflective on where I am today and how to embrace our connections with our ancestors.”
As he looks ahead to graduating this spring, Staples-Fairbanks is grateful for his time at UMN Morris.
“Being a student at UMN Morris was such a blessing in disguise for me. I met some of my best friends and [connected] with others from parts of the world I never would have imagined before coming to college.”
He acknowledges that for so many growing up on a reservation, higher education isn’t a common path.
“[H]aving this amazing opportunity with TPT, I hope that it can show our youth that higher education, new connections, and new opportunities [aren't] someone else's reality, it's ours too,” says Fairbanks. “I just want to help do my part to give back to the younger generation. I hope my story can help show them.”