by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
“I am bringing to reality my goals I’ve set,” said Priscilla Flatmouth.
Priscilla Flatmouth, 17, is an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe “Apsaalooké”. She is of the “Ashshitchite” Big Lodge Clan and child of “Xuhkaalaxche” Ties Bundle.
“My Indian name is ‘Baaapáale kuushtíile’ meaning Walks Towards the Plant,” said Priscilla. “My parents are Leon and Lorene Flatmouth and we live in Lodge Grass, MT.
“I play volleyball and love the game of basketball,” said Priscilla. “I am a senior at St. Labre Indian School in Ashland, MT. I’ve been a starting center for three years and played varsity all four years. I was named to the All State Team twice, First Team All Conference, and Second Team All Conference. I was awarded the team MVP two years in a row, and Best Offensive Player. I signed with United Tribes Technical College to further my education and basketball career.”
“As a student athlete I work as a team not an individual on the court,” said Priscilla. “My belief in my culture helps me achieve my goals by having respect for myself, my teammates by working together at all times, my community and elders. Being respectful of my culture, know that my clan mothers and fathers are given the highest respect, knowing my culture, language, religious beliefs, and having respect for others, on the court and where I go, because I do represent the Crow Nation.”
“My biggest influence would be my mom,” said Priscilla. “She’s the strongest person I know and my dad for pointing out my flaws after a game, or telling me to keep my focus on the end and not dwell in the past. They never missed any of my games all through high school, whenever my mom was sick she would encourage me to go and play in tournaments because she wanted to see me grow as an athlete and become more independent in the real world.”
“I noticed when she was a freshman and sophomore she was scared to handle the ball,” said mom Lorene Flatmouth. “She would dribble in so far then pass it back out. Then at the state tournament against Poplar her sophomore year she had gotten a rebound and looked for an outlet but me and a couple other fans yelled at her to take it, and she finally did. She took it all the way down the court and drove in an open lane because no one was on her and made the basket. After that she wasn’t afraid to handle the ball anymore.”
“She always asked me to play in tournaments, so she was always traveling. She would be with the Bear Comes Out’s or Allison Bighorn would give her ride to tournaments all over. This past summer she wanted to put together a team of the Labre girls and who would be playing during the upcoming season for the summer league put on by TR Little Light. TR would put on some training camps and she would ask to participate because she always wanting to work on her game and skills. A lot of the opposing coaches knew that if she were to get the ball she would power her way into the paint and score so you’d hear the coach yelling around to double or even triple team her. She knew how to use her size and height to get through situations like that,” added Lorene.
“I would always tell her to never give up, never quit when she was on the court,” said dad Leon Flatmouth. “When the star players graduated she had some big shoes to fill and she sure did do that by stepping up and pushing everyone around her to stay together. When she was a junior she played in the Treasure State Classic that is for seniors and she made the All Star team. She has a lot of accomplishments, so when they came short during Districts I told her not to dwell on it because she had accomplished a lot of her goals during high school.”
“Priscilla would watch film and see what she was doing wrong and fix it the next game, then people always approaching us asking if she would be able to play in tournaments with them, or if we ever considered transferring her to a different school. She enjoyed doing track until she reached high school then she had to make a choice to play ball or compete in track as a thrower. During volleyball her senior year she was awarded with a Second Team All Conference selection. She achieved these goals and we were just proud of her of how far she came from when she first started playing basketball as a kid, we hardly missed a game,” added Leon.
“My aunties are big fans of mine and encourage me to take every opportunity that is thrown at me since forever it seems like,” said Priscilla. “There’s been times I’ve wanted to quit but my family was always there to push me back into it.”
“Most importantly I see the struggle of my community and friends and I help in every way I can,” said Priscilla. “They repay me with their love and support during my games and always giving me good pep talks before and after games, especially my best friends Demi Lawrence and Katie Bartlett.”
“My past coaches are a big part of my love for the game,” said Priscilla. “When I first transferred to St. Labre my seventh grade year Barry Howe and Tony Bear Comes Out gave me my chance to play and finally show what I can do out on the court. Tony and Rhea took me around with their traveling team through seventh grade to my summer entering senior year coaching our team ‘Lady Bomb Squad’ in many tournaments. They were one of my adopted Ashland family’s along with the Bartlett’s and Lawrence’s.”
“My coach Andy Elkshoulder coached me during my four years of high school,” said Priscilla. “He saw the potential I had my sophomore year giving me the leadership of my team by selecting me as a team captain for three consecutive years.”
“I first met Priscilla when she was a freshman,” said Andy Elkshoulder, head varsity girls’ basketball coach at St. Labre. “I really didn’t know much about her except that she was a kid with a lot of potential. Well as basketball season started I saw she was very athletic and could move very well with her height and size. She was quick and very coordinated with her movements. She was an immediate starter with the program.”
“She was easy to coach and had skills you don’t see in every big girl. She could box out, play defense, and run the floor very well, and she could still post up down bottom and score easily. She can also dribble very well full speed that you don’t see most big girls do. Priscilla can shoot from the three-point line and score inside also,” added Coach Andy.
“Priscilla is an excellent leader on the floor and in school I have never had a bad day with her in the four years I coached her,” said Coach Andy. “She was voted by the conference and state as an All-State player and MVP the last two years. A few times Priscilla had triple doubles, three games with over 25 rebounds, scored over 20 points and eight-plus assists.”
The holistic concept of wellness is based on physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health by being connected in all at the same time.
“I spend a lot of my free time picking up a ball and working on my shot and coordination,” said Priscilla. “I’m pushing myself physically to be ready for my upcoming year of ball. Mentally on the court I need to work on knowing how to handle a situation especially when you feel those bad vibes from other players or especially coming from myself, you can’t play the game by yourself it takes five players on the court to win, so being able to read a situation that can cause an upset to the outcome of the game.”
“Spiritually I stay connected by praying before every game with my teammates and coaches. ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me: Philippians 4:13.’ Emotionally everyone has a breaking point you have to push yourself to that point to find out how much you can handle, like in game’s you never give up whether you’re down by 5 or 40 with little time left on the clock. Mental toughness is a strong asset and it’s like an advantage in a stressful situation, so I can use that toughness to catch a grip to cause an upset to my opponents. Being vocal is key when you talk and the team connects better, but when it’s silent and no one steps up then we are all over the place,” added Priscilla.
“During this pandemic I’m taking it day-by-day,” said Priscilla. “I’m waiting for the lift because I do miss my friends and teachers but this modern world makes it easy to connect over our devices.”
“Every chance I get I pick up a ball and work on my game to keep myself busy and stay in shape,” said Priscilla.
Photo Credit: Tommy B. Robinson
