Baller & Shawler

Baller & Shawler

Niniiyaanis Mobile Mural, 2025

This mural celebrates Native movement as a living form of expression. Featuring a Native basketball player alongside a Fancy Shawl Dancer, the work reflects how Native people continue to tell stories through the body, whether on the court or in the dance circle.

Basketball and dance both carry rhythm, discipline, and intention. Each requires focus, balance, and a deep awareness of space. For Native communities, these movements are more than recreation or performance. They are ways of expressing identity, resilience, and belonging. The court and the powwow circle become parallel spaces where strength, creativity, and community are activated.

This mural was created for The War Pony, a trailer transformed into a mobile community classroom and resource—by us and for us. Through the Niniiyaanis War Pony mobile model, this traveling space goes directly to tribal and urban Native communities, resourcing and empowering children and families with cultural knowledge and tools created by the Niniiyaanis Collective.

The imagery reflects that same purpose. Native people do not exist in separate worlds. We move between contemporary and traditional spaces, carrying culture forward through sport, dance, and everyday life. This mural affirms that Native expression is alive and evolving, and that movement—whether on the court or in the circle—is a powerful way of teaching, healing, and belonging.