Wednesday, April 29, 2009

check it out! Montana Book Awards


Last Thursday evening saw the Montana Books Awards reception at the Flathead County Library. (The Flathead Beacon did a nice photo slideshow to document this exciting event.) The award winner, Full-Court Quest by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, documents "the girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, basketball champions of the world." The time was the turn of the last century, and the girls from Fort Shaw travelled Montana playing basketball and then changing into costume for dramatic renditions and musical performances. They were all multi-talented. In 1904 they were invited to attend the World's Fair in St. Louis, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, where they spent several months playing basketball (and winning every time) and performing. Peavy and Smith bring these girls to life through their extensive research and collaboration with the girls' descendents.
At the reception last Thursday Young Grey Horse, a drumming and singing group from Browning, honored the book with several songs. And several generations of Emma Sansaver's family (she was called "little one" by her teammates) were also on hand to honor their grandmother.

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