Trailblazing warrior: 'Native Ball' puts spotlight on Malia Kipp, the first Native American on University of Montana women's hoops team

Megan Harrington grew up playing basketball.

Over the years, she learned how important being part of a team can be.

As a filmmaker, it’s the team that gets a film done.

When Harrington and the crew tackled its most recent documentary, “Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer,” the idea came easily.

“The documentary was born from a featured documentary we were working on,” Harrington says. “It came out in 2021 and we knew we wanted to focus on a different aspect.”

The focus of the documentary is on Blackfeet Nation’s Malia Kipp, who was a trailblazer in basketball.

In 1992, roughly 5,000 American high-school girls received a full-ride Division I basketball scholarship, only one was Native American. It was Kipp. As a member of the University of Montana’s Lady Griz, Kipp was the first Native American on the team.

She had to learn to navigate life in two worlds as a Native American woman away from the reservation.

Her example on and off the court became an inspiration for other Indigenous women, earning her the title of “warrior” from her Blackfeet Nation chief.

Trailblazing warrior: 'Native Ball' puts spotlight on Malia Kipp, the first Native American on University of Montana women's hoops team

The documentary will air at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It is also available to stream on the PBS app.

“Everybody has a story to tell,” Kipp says. “Everybody struggles; everybody goes through things. Megan wanted to tell my story, and she did it in such an awesome way.”

“Native Ball” expands on a story from the basketball documentary “The House That Rob Built,” from the same filmmakers at Family Theater Productions in Hollywood, California.

The half-hour “Native Ball” has won awards from film festivals around the country, including the prestigious Cleveland International Film Festival, where it won the Programmers’ Choice Award for Best Short.

“First, I hope people are entertained,” says David L. Guffey, executive producer and national director of Family Theater Productions. “Second, I hope people are inspired to consider the challenges of people from other cultures whom they encounter at school, work, or church … With encouragement and opportunity, people like Malia, who work with courage and fortitude, have the ability to shine. We all need more of this kind of light.”

Harrington was a redshirt freshman at University of Montana when Kipp was playing on the same team.

Kipp was the first Native American to play for the storied Montana Lady Griz hoop program. She played on four straight Big Sky Conference championship teams at Montana from 1992-96.

“Malia was a senior when I was on the team in 1996,” Harrington says. “The goal for the documentary is to make an audience feel like they were there too. There was such an energy when she played. I wanted the feel of the entire documentary to put you in the place and experience what everyone saw during Malia’s time playing basketball.”

Though the film has been at festivals across the country, Harrington is excited for the documentary to get air dates on PBS.

“PBS holds the No. 6 spot among broadcast and cable channels, so that means there is an opportunity for millions of viewers to tune in,” Harrington says.

Harrington says Kipp’s story is universal and hopes that audiences will find inspiration in the story.

“You don’t have to be a basketball player to understand the film,” she says. “Malia’s story is one of perseverance and never giving up. She sets such a great example for many people.”