Imagine running across a field. You’re tired and out of breath. You’ve been in what seems like an endless game. From sun up to sundown you’re running and fighting to make a goal. To some, it may seem like a game, but not to you. To you, it’s part of your culture, your religion, and, to you, the outcome matters.
Lacrosse was first played by Native American tribes in different regions of North America. There were many different versions of the game, rules, numbers of players, and sizes of the fields that would change depending on the tribe. Names of the game also varied, and included Creators’ Game, Baggataway, and Tewaaraton, which translates to “little brother of war.”1
The name that we know today as lacrosse came about in 1636 when French Missionary Jean de Brebeuf compared the shape of the sticks used by players of the game to a bishop’s crozier, which is ‘‘crosse’’ in French.2
For many Native American tribes, lacrosse wasn’t just a sport, but rather part of their culture and their religion. Since the game was very rough and people could be injured and even die while playing, the Iroquois used lacrosse as a way of training young men to be warriors, and the game was used to settle disputes without actually going to war. This is why lacrosse is nicknamed “little brother of war.”3 Lacrosse also had religious significance among some tribes. It was called the Creator’s Game, and it helped the players put their lives into perspective and teach lessons, some of the most valuable lessons being that everyone has struggles and opponents and the key to survival is friends and allies.
In the culture of the Iroquois, when a man dies, his lacrosse stick is buried with him. They believed that the first thing he would do when he wakes up in the afterlife is to take the stick from his coffin and begin playing that day.4
Native American lacrosse was often played on a stretch of land up to two miles long with sticks between 3-5 feet long made of wood and animal skin. A game could include between one-hundred to one-thousand players at a time. There was no set time to the games. The two teams would agree on a set amount of points and would play from sunrise to sunset until the amount of points was achieved.5 Violence and injuries were very common, and players would often walk away with minor cuts, broken bones, head injuries, and occasionally a death would occur.
Few people can claim to have experienced a Native American game of Lacrosse. Artist George Catlin had a passion for learning about Native Americans, and how they lived. He once said that “If my life is spared, nothing shall stop me short of visiting every nation of Indians on the Continent of North America.” He attended a major Choctaw lacrosse game in 1834. In his time there, he recorded everything that he saw and described how the game was set up from the length of the field and deciding where the goals would be places, to how each team was set up. He described how the night before the match both teams danced and chanted all night. Each team had a medicine man who chanted incantations to strengthen their team and weaken the other. He recorded his experiences through paintings and writings.6
Lacrosse is a sport that has a beautiful history and carries a meaning that many of us will never be able to understand. To Native Americans, lacrosse was a sport, a teaching tool, a religion, and a way to connect their cultures with other tribes.7 Today the history and meaning behind lacrosse has been lost, and to many it has become just another sport played for recreation and friendly competition.
- The Gale Encyclopedia of Fitness, 2012, s.v. ‘”Lacrosse,” by David E. Newton. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2017, s.v., “Lacrosse,” by Justin D. Garcia. ↵
- Thomas Vennum Jr., “American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War,” The Journal of American Folklore 108, No. 427 (1995): 98-99. ↵
- S. L. Price, “Pride of a Nation,” Sports Illustrated 113, no. 2 (2010): 60-71. ↵
- Stanley A. Freed, “Lacrosse yesterday and today,” Cobblestone 15, no.9 (1994): 32. ↵
- Joanna Shaw-Eagle, “Catlin saves vanishing Indians on canvas,” The Washington Times, January 4, 2003. ↵
- John Seabrook, “Gathering of the Tribes,” New Yorker 74, No. 26, (August 1998): 30. ↵
154 comments
Jackie Velasquez
The author wrote about lacrosse. However, it is more than that. Back during the Natives times, lacrosse was played as a way of settling something. They could go on for hours of the day until the point goal is reached. As every sport goes, there would be injuries that occur but the way the Natives play, death would sometimes be a result of this. As interesting as it is to learn of how lacrosse is played in our time, it is more interesting to know where it came from and what its been called in the past.
Emily Rodriguez
This article was very informative and composed in an easy way to follow. The pictures used in the article correlated well with the topic that was being discussed. I believe this article is a good way to inform people about Native American culture and the things they felt so passionate about. It did a good job at explaining how the “sport” was played, but also why it was played, and the strong meaning behind it. Overall, I felt this article was very informative for its length, and it had an easy flow to read.
David Kamel
This article was written so well! I love how you made it less formal and that made it easier to digest coming from a Dyslexic. You really justify your sources and it shows and honestly, I think it is great how you can utilize it like that. I think this is an amazing read and really touches on something I’m sure really no one knew about, amazing work!
Alyssa Leos
This article was very well detailed! I was familiar with the game lacrosse but I never knew it originated from Native Americans. I think it was a very good idea for the Natives to find a way to settle disputes instead of causing a war. It was sweet to know that the Natives believed once someone would die they would wake up in the afterlife and play that day with their lacrosse stick they were buried with. You did a very excellent job writing this article. It was not only informative but it was also very well written.
Kristen Leary
I was really interested in reading this article, especially since it reveals something about the culture of Native American tribes beyond how they acquired food or interacted with neighboring tribes. I especially liked your use of images! It was very engaging and gave a good reference of what the game could have looked like. Thank you for a great article, and very interesting topic!
Shane
It’s really hard to process that lacrosse is that old I would think it would be originated around the time in the 1800s because people seemed more modern and creative to think about games they also have common similarities with us they used it as settling disputes and people now in today’s world we use basketball, football, soccer. To settle disputes on who’s better and who trained better for the sport. It’s on of the sports that was originated from culture .what drew me In was the way how detailed their sticks were as well what else I was questioning was when they die and they have their tools for the sport buried with them was it a practice that was picked up from the Egyptians when they where getting mummified
Rosa Deyo
I find it really interesting that lacrosse was played by the Native Americans. I feel like a lot of what we learn about the Native Americans is focused on their survival, completely neglecting their traditions and sports. It’s really so amazing that they were so dedicated to lacrosse, despite the injuries that could occur. It’s pretty similar to how modern-day people enjoy football, and despite both cultural and time differences, people of all walks of life can be similar.
Erica Mata
I was amazed at the fact that lacrosse came from a culture rather than just a sport, which makes sense to the point being made in the article that it has lost its meaning and the history behind it. For example, how it was used as a way to settle a debate instead of starting a war. We can truly see how we manage to change the meaning of things and turn it into something different. Lacrosse is a great example of how the structure of something can be easily forgotten within new generations.
The reading fits within the historical time and period by how the Native Americans saw it as part of their culture and how they would use it in their own method like settling disputes or as a teaching tool for young men. This reading connects with the themes we are covering in class, especially within the tribal cultures. There’s a collision in cultures within the reading between the Native Americans and Jean de Brebeuf as he was the one who made it known as lacrosse. In addition, relating to themes we are covering in class is by how they are exploring new land. Back to tribal cultures it is also a part of the theme since lacrosse was part of a religion.
The author did well in the research behind what the article was about. Not only were we given dates, but we got an insight to what it used to be before being known as lacrosse. They also did well in proving a point that history is able to be lost. I was able to connect to when the author said that history could be lost because I, as well as many others I had thought lacrosse was just a simple sport before knowing the deep meaning behind it and knowing where it came from. The importance of the topic is something that is clearly there by how it was organized and how it changed drastically from being a religious belief/ part of a culture to known as a sport.
Jace Nicolet
The Author did an amazing job on this article because not only was it not dragged out and too long, but the content given was full of facts and compelling storytelling that kept me eager to read the whole article without getting bored or sidetracked. The author does a good job at inserting pictures that show the reader what the lacrosse sticks looked like and how the game is played. The author also attracts my attention by giving the deeper meaning behind this game and showing its just just a game to these people but rather a lifestyle they come to adopt and fall in love with. Reading this reminded me of today’s sports from the teams and tribes, but also with the competition the Native Americans have. The introduction drew me in and hooked me by putting myself in the shoes of the player and from that I made a connection with the sport that made me curious which compelled me to read the whole article with a smile on my face.
Rodney Jones
After reading this amazingly written article, I discovered that lacrosse was a way to settle disputes!! And it trained younger men! I always thought lacrosse was just a sport, but to them, it was way more than just a sport for them. Reading this helped me understand why and how lacrosse was a culture for Natives; it also helped me understand how some cultures are often forgotten due to practices today.