Kola Bad Bear: Championing change and awareness for Native American communities

[admin]

Former women’s basketball standout reflects on student-athlete experience, advocacy efforts

Kola Bad Bear was more than an inspiration to Native American youths as a standout basketball student-athlete at Montana State for four years and Montana State Billings as a graduate transfer.

She was a driver for change and increased awareness.

Bad Bear has been a vocal advocate for Native American communities, leveraging her platform as a standout basketball student-athlete to raise awareness and inspire change. She grew up as a member of the Crow Nation on the tribe's reservation, and her journey has been deeply rooted in her cultural heritage and the values instilled by her family.

One of Bad Bear's significant advocacy efforts is her work around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. She has used her visibility in sports to bring attention to this critical issue, often wearing MMIW shirts during games. Her participation in the 2024 NCAA Inclusion Forum as a panelist further highlights her commitment to fostering inclusive environments within collegiate athletics and beyond.

Bad Bear's advocacy extends to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. She has been actively involved in various forums and discussions, sharing her experiences and insights on the importance of representation and the role sports can play in promoting social change. Her efforts aim to inspire and empower others, particularly Native American youths, to pursue their dreams and embrace their cultural identity.

Bad Bear spoke to the NCAA about her athletic journey, heritage and advocacy efforts, while offering advice to younger Native American athletes.

What was your path to college basketball?
My path to collegiate basketball was a little different. Both my older sisters played college volleyball, and I played volleyball and basketball in high school, so it was a little harder for me to decide, but at the end of the day, I thought basketball was more rewarding in the sense that it's a little physically harder — sorry to volleyball players, but that's just my stance. You can't really, like, hit anyone in volleyball, only in the face with the ball, but basketball, you can get physical. So that was easy choice for me for college. And I played four years at Montana State in Bozeman, a small DI, and then grad transferred to play in my hometown.

How would you reflect on your student-athlete experience?
My NCAA athlete experience was nothing short of amazing. I got to meet some lifelong best friends that are definitely going to be in my wedding. I had a lot of fun experiences being just a student outside of basketball in the springtime and got to go see the world and see different cultures and people that I never would have been able to if it wasn't for basketball.

What did it mean to use your graduate transfer season to play in your hometown?
I decided to enter the Transfer Portal after I completed my four years in Bozeman, just simply to see where I could go. But I kind of always knew I was going to go back to my hometown in Billings and play for a Division II school, just because I'd missed my family, and I wanted to play in front of them one last time, and my reservation is super close. So I got to have a lot of my hometown fans come to every game. So it was really cool to play in front of them and get the whole summer off — nothing I was used to. That was a blast.

How did your advocacy work for Native Americans begin, and how has it evolved since then?
If it wasn't for my assistant coach my freshman year of college, I don't think we would have had any Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples awareness games. She's the one who actually implied that we would do it my freshman year, and I didn't really do much more for it, because I was a shy little freshman. And then later that year, I had a cousin go missing on New Year's Eve, and a month later, she was found two miles from where she was last seen. They ruled it as a natural cause of death, but obviously we know that's not what happened, and so that kind of lit a fire in me to educate myself and those around me. So moving forward, past COVID season because obviously fans couldn't be there, we didn't do anything my sophomore year, but junior year, we partnered with the American Indian Council and worked hand in hand on how to advertise it and market it properly, and just to raise awareness and also educate the community at the same time, so they understood why we were wearing red and who we were wearing red for. And then continued it my senior year with the men's basketball team, and now it's an annual game in Bozeman, even though I'm not there.

How do you try to honor and celebrate your culture and heritage as an athlete?
As a college athlete, I got to honor my heritage by using my voice and my platform to raise awareness for my people back home, and to also shine light on the beautiful culture with their dancing and their regalia and the drumming and the singing.

What message would you like to share with other young Native Americans who aspire to pursue sports at the collegiate level?
My message to younger Native American kids is to dream big and chase them. You can go two hours from home. You can go eight hours from home. Family will always be there. It's OK to leave the reservation. It's only for four years. And you're going to have the time of your life, and you will be able to bring those experiences back that you got to see and all the opportunities you did to your family, and they will be nothing short of proud of you.

Who are some Native American athletes past or present that you've kind of admired and looked up to in your athletic journey?
Some Native athletes that I looked up to when I was younger were Shoni and Jude Schimmel. They had this documentary when they were in high school, and then they played for Louisville. So that was super cool to see them play on TV, and that just kind of gave me hope that, "They're Native. They are on TV. They can do that. I can do that." So that's just something that I would also want to give a message to young kids that you can do it, and I hope you can go further.

What does it mean to attend and speak at the 2024 Inclusion Forum?
It means everything. I feel very honored to have been asked to come and speak at this forum and even just be here and learn from coaches, from administration about work at all different collegiate levels — DI, DII, DIII — and just to hear their stories is really inspiring.

What are some takeaways you'll bring with you from this forum?
To continue to use my voice on what I believe in, and everyone's going to have their opinion, but to stand up for what you think is right, especially from (South Carolina women's basketball head coach) Dawn Staley. She really highlighted that she's going to use all her platforms, social media, her voice, wherever she is, and just to continue to shine light on issues you think are important.

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/12/me ... ities.aspx