GREAT FALLS — A Billings radio host’s suggestion that Native American basketball teams should have their own post-season tournaments has prompted a show of solidarity at the Northern Class C Divisional Tournament.
KCTR-AM radio host Paul Mushaben posted on the station’s website Tuesday that a recent tournament crowd was “so unruly and disrespectful of the facility that it may be time for the (Montana High School Association) to proceed with an all Indian tourney.”
In response, members of the basketball teams from Power, Belt, Heart Butte and Box Elder locked arms at center court and shook hands before beginning competition Wednesday in Great Falls.
The crowd of about 3,500 responded with loud cheers and applause, the Great Falls Tribune reported.
“What we want to do from a Northern C perspective is to show we’ve got Indian teams, we’ve got non-Indian teams, and we’re going to be good sports and we’re going to be together,” said Box Elder boys’ basketball coach Jeremy MacDonald. “And at the end of the day we’re going to shake hands and tell each other, ‘Great game.'”
MacDonald said he hopes the pre-game ceremony helps generate “a bigger discussion and we start to bring people together instead of making this divide between each other.”
Mushaben’s post said an “Indian team involved in a tournament left people re-thinking if it’s worth it or not to host a tournament.” He did not mention which tournament he was referring to. The post was removed later Tuesday.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, the radio station said it did not approve of Mushaben’s comments.
When interviewed by The Billings Gazette, Mushaben denied there was a racial overtone to his post, but that he was pointing out the source of an issue.
“It seems that the majority of the problems occur when Native Americans play,” Mushaben said.
School officials acknowledge that the crowd atmosphere at high school games can get heated, but they rejected the idea that reservation schools and their fans are any more boisterous than others.
“A lot of this stuff, I think, is a bit of urban legend,” said Gerald Chouinard, superintendent at Lame Deer, but he acknowledged there are some big rivalries.
“It’s not the kids that are causing the issues. It’s the fans,” said Kelly Haaland, superintendent at Melstone. “And the fans on both sides can be equally bad.”
Mark Beckman, executive director of the MHSA, said no schools have declined to host a tournament based on which teams are playing and that the MHSA has not received complaints from managers of any of last weekend’s tournaments.
He noted the MHSA handbook prohibits discrimination with regard to gender, religion, race or ethnic origin in activities sponsored by the association.
“The MHSA will not exclude or discriminate against any participants or their fans, and further is concerned with the intolerance expressed through certain online postings and social media,” Beckman said in a statement.
Sam Bruner, the superintendent at Plenty Coups, said segregating tournaments isn’t the solution.
“I don’t know what it would accomplish other than it would cause more division,” Bruner said.
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MHSA statement courtesy of Executive Director Mark Beckman
As stated in the MHSA Handbook, the MHSA and its 179 member schools fully support the concept of equal opportunity for the youth of the State of Montana. There will be no discrimination with regard to gender, religion, race or ethnic origin in activities sponsored by the Association.
The Montana High School Association has received numerous calls and emails in response to comments and videos posted on various websites after the 2017 district basketball tournaments. In particular, individuals are expressing concern over recent online postings which allege that several fans of Native American teams have contributed to an undesirable environment at district tournaments. Certain online postings have further expressed the opinion that Native American teams should have a separate tournament from other member schools.
The MHSA has not received any concerns from the tournament managers of the recently held district tournaments on crowd issues from this past weekend. Also, district and divisional tournament sites are determined by the schools in those districts and divisions. The MHSA has not had any school, community, or facility express to our office that they wouldn’t host a tournament because Native American schools were participating.
The MHSA is a member-based entity which strives to exemplify inclusion, opportunity and tolerance in all aspects of student activities, regardless of the level of participation or the location of the events.
The MHSA will not exclude or discriminate against any participants or their fans, and further is concerned with the intolerance expressed through certain online postings and social media. Member schools, staff and the Executive Board will continue to address any and all sportsmanship issues in a cooperative and collegial manner with the shared goal of eliminating bias from any event at any level. Negative fan behavior or other crowd control incidents will be addressed with the commensurate level of response.