‘Decolonizing’ Roller Derby? Team Indigenous Takes Up the Challenge
Meet the roller derby athletes who are ‘reclaiming’ their space, promoting female empowerment and standing up for indigenous people.
Full story for The New York Times here.
Photos and videos by Rachel Clara Reed | Words by Harriet Constable
Sasheen Wesley, left, a.k.a. “Bash-Full,” wearing a button blanket handmade by her grandmother from the Gisbudwada tribe from the Tsimshian Nation in Gitselasu, Canada. Right, Sherry Bontkes, a.k.a.“Rossler.” During her time on Team Indigenous, she found out she was not of Cree heritage, as she had thought, but of Saulteaux/Ojibwe heritage.
Jessica Ghosen, left, or “Blackrock Bruiser.” She wears a shawl passed down from her mother, from the Cayuga people of Six Nations of the Grand River. Right, Jennifer Bennett, “Windigo.” She wears a traditional Sioux-style women’s dress with Ojibwe details.
Christine Phillips-Ryburn, left, a.k.a. “Whakintawh,” wears a hand-carved necklace made by her father from the Taranaki Iwi tribe in New Zealand. Right, Melissa Waggoner, a.k.a. “Mick Swagger,” a co-founder of Team Indigenous, in the team’s uniform.
Sherry Bontkes, a.k.a. “Rossler” listens to strategy tactics at a practice before the World Cup.
Ms. Phillips-Ryburn collapsed on the ground at practice.
The team huddles before their first World Cup game against Team Italy.
Laura Martinez, a.k.a. “Diamond Dog,” a Team Indigenous bench coach, wore hand-stitched and beaded moccasins.
Victoria Lynn Major, a.k.a. “Rage,” chanting, “strong, resilient, indigenous,” with the team before its first game.
Amil Dupuis-Rossi, a.k.a. “The Fighting Mongoose” has her makeup done before the team’s final World Cup game.
From left, Ms. Ghosen; Amil Dupuis-Rossi, a.k.a. “The Fighting Mongoose”; Michelle Cross, a.k.a. “Squarrior”; and Ms. Bontkes of Team Indigenous hugged before their last World Cup roller derby game.
“Bringing all of these women together,” Ms. Waggoner told us, “meeting and seeing each other for who we are… that’s healing.”
Team members and their nations’ flags at the World Cup.
Andulia Sanchez, a.k.a. “Skintastic Dynomite”, a Team Indigenous coach, looks on with pride.
