Gyasi Ross: Developing another generation of Native heroes

I remember a couple of years ago, a good friend of mine, knowing that I’m a decent lawyer, referred Shoni Schimmel’s family to me. There was this really amazing opportunity for a feature length show highlighting Shoni on TLC (I think it was TLC, but it was one of the better cable networks). Anyway, there were some private investors raising money for the film, which would have highlighted a wonderful and loving Native family who teach their children to work hard and follow their dreams. The Schimmel family wanted someone to review the contract, understandably, to make sure that the girls and the family generally were not being taken advantage of. Being a basketball fan and also a pretty mediocre businessman, I said “Of course, I’ll do whatever you need for free.”

Well, the project died on the vine because of a lack of money. The investors went to MANY, MANY Tribal councils asking for contributions. “Anything will help,” they said. It wasn’t a particularly big-budget project—much less than many Tribes give to local law enforcement or to any particular parade. But not for this Native basketball prodigy. For her, barely any support. The reason? “She’s not from our Tribe. Obviously she’s a good player, but why should we help with HER project? What do my tribal members get out of it? They want us to invest in our own tribal members."

Seriously.

Now, I take all of the people putting the image of Shoni screaming at Brittney Griner after her AMAZING shot with a grain of salt…yeah, it sounds good to support them now and we should absolutely support them now. But know they’re a proven commodity and are both destined for the WNBA-it doesn’t take too much faith to support them now. But what about when their family had no resources and was unknown a few years ago?