A common misconception about short films is that they cannot be as effective as feature-length titles. Longer is often mistakenly viewed as better, with proof of this being that we live in an era where more and more filmmakers are putting out movies that are two and a half hours in theaters. The PBS short documentary Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer is the inspirational true story of Barbara “Malia” Kipp, the first female Montana tribe member to play NCAA Division 1 basketball. Co-writers/co-directors Jonathan Cipiti and Megan Harrington needed all of 26 minutes to tell this story in a moving and highly effective manner.
Sports can be transformative, giving life-changing confidence, as well as lifting people out of tough socio-economic environments. This is the lens through which Kipp became a role model for other Native-American women from the Blackfeet Nation tribe in Browning, Montana. The film offers beautiful scenic wide-angle shots of the reservations. Although gorgeous, these small towns of a thousand people do not provide a ton of opportunities besides the social problems of drugs, alcohol, and absent parents that plague many reservations.

“…a full-ride scholarship to the University of Montana on the Lady Griz team.”
That’s where the game of basketball came in for Kipp and the other women who followed her. Kipp made it out of such circumstances with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Montana on the Lady Griz team. She faced adversity from a college counselor telling her that she was “too dumb” to go into the sports medicine field. The game of basketball gave her the confidence to push past doubters like that to go on to bigger and better things.
The most emotional scene of Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer is when Kipp tearfully recounts how her Blackfeet Nation tribe elders did a special ceremonial flag dance song for her final college game. The ceremony signifies that she was a true warrior and is usually reserved for people in the military. It was the highest honor that Kipp could receive, and she looks back at that moment with reverence and only wishes that she could have expressed better at the time to her elders how much it meant.
Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer is touching, inspirational, and full of pride for the culture of the Blackfeet Nation and all Native Americans. The short documentary is a reminder that great things can come in short packages.