SuAnne Big Crow
Quick Facts
Biography
SuAnne Big Crow (March 15, 1974 - February 9, 1992) was a basketball player for the 1989 South Dakota champion Pine Ridge High School team. A member of the Oglala Sioux, she was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, and died as a teenager in a car accident. SuAnne was featured in Ian Frazier's book On the Rez.
Her basketball career was successful and dramatic: Big Crow made the last-second winning basket in the state Class A championship game. She was the best girl's player in South Dakota and scored an average of 39 points per game. Her 67 points in a single game was a state record. SuAnne died while traveling to accept a Miss Basketball Award during her senior year of high school.
The SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club was created in 1992 and was the first Boys and Girls Club built in Indian Country. The center was named for SuAnne, who had wished for a "Happy Town" for children in her community.