Athlete Profile: Mick Swagger - Team Indigenous

Mick Swagger is a former member of the USA Roller Derby team and the founder of Team indigenous. She is originally from the Diné Indigenous community in North America and the idea for a team of indigenous women came about through social media and it's resulted in a team that took part in the Roller Derby World Cup earlier this year. Mick tells Chris Stafford that when she put out a call for women to apply for the team more than 60 women came forward of which 20 were selected and the team now comprises women from different nations from the US, Canada, South America, New Zealand and beyond. And they come from a range of different professional backgrounds from a heavy metal worker to astronaut and lawyer. The women have come from far and wide. A team indigenous is unique in its heritage and culture and has a community that reaches far beyond sport making the women unique role models among marginalised people. It's also given the women an opportunity to be among their own to learn of the families and the other nations and they also have another mission to raise awareness of the treatment of Indigenous communities. The Indigenous women who were murdered or disappeared along the "Highway of Tears" from 1969 to 2011 the fundraising contributes to missing and murdered women USA a charity based in the US. The women are also making a statement by coming together as a sports team and building a community across the nations which is giving a voice to the wider issues of indigenous people.  Team Indigenous recently took part in the 2018 Roller Derby World Cup in England, an achievement in itself and for a new team of women this is something to be especially proud of. 
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