Brook LaFloe (Citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, North Dakota) grew up in the Twin Cities and is a basketball coach and an artist-educator and entrepreneur with passion for revitalizing culture, and facilitating the growth of local Indigenous economies.
She played NCAA Division 1 basketball at Tulane University from 2013-2015 as a 5 foot walk-on. Her academic background includes a Bachelor’s from Tulane University in Neuroscience and Anthropology, a Master’s in Education from Loyola University of Maryland, and diplomas for Montessori education. Brook also has many years of experience in beadwork and sewing. She founded Niniijaanis One of Ones, a Native American art, sport, and social collective.
Syd Beane (Citizen of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Dakota Nation) is a filmmaker, historian, documentarian, organizer and Dakota elder in the Twin Cities. Beane draws the energy of his Dakota ancestors and explores how place elicits individual and collective value.
After spending many years in San Francisco, Beane returned to his ancestral lands of Mni Sota and, along with his daughters, was an instrumental part of renaming Lake Bde Maka Ska. He received The Frank Blythe Award in Media Excellence from Twin Cities Public Television in 2023. His research is currently focused on Native American basketball for the upcoming TPT documentary Medicine Ball working with producer Leya Hale.
Syd Beane shooting during the North Dakota State Class A High School Basketball Tournament in 1959.
Syd Beane was captain and leading scorer of the North Dakota State School of Science team. NDSSS was founded upon former Wahpeton Indian School land which the federal government transferred to the State of North Dakota and stipulated scholarships be awarded to American Indians.
Leya Hale comes from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné Nations. She is a multiple regional Emmy award winning documentary producer for Twin Cities PBS. Her work brings visibility to Indigenous lifeways and issues impacting her community. She is best known for her feature films, The People’s Protectors and Bring Her Home, both distributed by PBS. Her most recent film, The Electric Indian premiered at The Great Northern and will be distributed by American Public Television (APT).
In 2020, Leya was awarded the Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous Artists and Bring Her Home was selected to represent the US at INPUT 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. When not producing feature films, Leya works on a variety of short form content in efforts to highlight underrepresented stories within the upper Midwest region.
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