Indigenous roller derby film hits Canadian theatres

A documentary following a borderless Indigenous roller derby team will be screening at select Canadian cinemas this week.

Rising Through the Fray follows Team Indigenous Rising as it welcomes a new generation of players to the team.

Filmmaker Courtney Montour tells the stories of three of the team's players and their experiences reconnecting to their cultural identities. 

“It’s really about the importance of seeing yourself reflected in mainstream society,” said Montour, who is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawà:ke, south of Montreal.

Because players are spread across the world, practices are rare and in some cases, teammates meet for the first time days before a tournament.

Despite the distance, players like Sour Cherry, whose name is Sherry Bontkes, describe an immediate bond when the team is together.

Bontkes is a Sixties Scoop survivor from Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, living in Alberta Beach, Alta.

The film follows her story of being adopted with her twin sister, feeling disconnected from her culture and facing racism in school, and how the team helped her reclaim pride in her identity.

"Ultimately, the film turned out to not be about roller derby at all," said Bontkes.

"The entire thing is about the human story."

The film also follows Kapulani Patterson, known as Hawaiian Blaze, a Kanaka Maoli artist from Hawaii living in New York.

"Roller derby on a whole is a very predominantly white sport," said Patterson.

"I am typically not only the only Native person, but the only brown person in my league."

Patterson's story is focused on finding healing after her military duty, navigating trauma through roller derby and in stained glass art.