Lacrosse, a full contact sport played with a ball and a stick with a mesh scoop at the end, is a staple of many colleges in the Eastern United States, Duke and Chapel Hill being the most obvious. This sport owes its origins to similar games played by Natives up and down the East Coast. The game that became lacrosse was developed by Plains tribes in Canada and spread to the Great Lakes and East Coast area, eventually making its way to the Southeast. Each tribe had its own variation, but all involved trying to get a wooden or animal hair and leather wrapped ball to a goal being vigorously defended by the other side, all while using a stick. The first sticks resembled large wooden spoons. They evolved into sticks with mesh-filled heads on each end, the playing end taking various shapes. Goals could be several yards, or several miles away. There were no bounds and no rules other than one could not touch the ball with the hands. The Southeast version uses two sticks.
Games were played between two teams of contestants in a village, or between rival villages or even rival tribes. While most stickball games were played for recreation, some were played as part of a religious ceremony or even as an alternative to an outright battle between the warriors. Some tribes referred to the game as 'war's little brother'. It was rough, and another purpose of it was to prepare younger men for war, or to keep the skills of the warriors sharp. For those reasons, a village approached an upcoming stickball match with all the serious and ritual of a modern playoff or college rivalry. The night before, there would be ceremonies to prepare the players for the coming day. Some tribes imposed taboos on what players could eat prior to a game. On the day of the game, the players put paint on their faces, bodies and even on their sticks, and dressed in their best regalia. Each player was required to place a bet, usually in the form of trade goods. Then, the game was on between teams of a few dozen or several hundred players on the field at a time. The object was to strike the ball on a stick posted in the ground. However high up the stick one could strike the ball, the more the point value. When one player was injured and eliminated from the game, another player on the other side also went out, to keep the teams even. The games might go on for days, sunup till sundown, until both sides felt that honor had been satisfied. While the losers when home empty handed and sore, the winners counted the items bet and followed with more feasting.
European explorers first saw this game in Canada in the 17th century. Jesuit missionaries there recorded the earliest examples of it. As contact increased with other tribes, other explorers, traders and missionaries remarked on the game, how rough it could be and the various ways it was played tribe to tribe or region to region. In the 19th century, White players began playing the game, called Lacrosse because the meshed top of the stick resembled a bishop's crozier, or staff of office, called a crosse d'evique. White players standardized the rules, the playing field size, team size, etc., and took some of the roughness out of the game, but the basics are still there. Lacrosse, Wisconsin owes its name to early explorers seeing Natives playing a match in the area. Ball Ground, Georgia, takes its name from Cherokee ball fiends that were near the area. Just as some White players are crazy about their sport of choice, and want to play it and live it as much as possible, some Natives felt the same way. Osceola was a skilled player of the two stick variety and was often seen with his ball sticks, trying to interest anyone in a pickup match. He helped to organize a match at Fort King, now Ocala, Florida, in 1837, to entertain White officers there.
Games were played between two teams of contestants in a village, or between rival villages or even rival tribes. While most stickball games were played for recreation, some were played as part of a religious ceremony or even as an alternative to an outright battle between the warriors. Some tribes referred to the game as 'war's little brother'. It was rough, and another purpose of it was to prepare younger men for war, or to keep the skills of the warriors sharp. For those reasons, a village approached an upcoming stickball match with all the serious and ritual of a modern playoff or college rivalry. The night before, there would be ceremonies to prepare the players for the coming day. Some tribes imposed taboos on what players could eat prior to a game. On the day of the game, the players put paint on their faces, bodies and even on their sticks, and dressed in their best regalia. Each player was required to place a bet, usually in the form of trade goods. Then, the game was on between teams of a few dozen or several hundred players on the field at a time. The object was to strike the ball on a stick posted in the ground. However high up the stick one could strike the ball, the more the point value. When one player was injured and eliminated from the game, another player on the other side also went out, to keep the teams even. The games might go on for days, sunup till sundown, until both sides felt that honor had been satisfied. While the losers when home empty handed and sore, the winners counted the items bet and followed with more feasting.
European explorers first saw this game in Canada in the 17th century. Jesuit missionaries there recorded the earliest examples of it. As contact increased with other tribes, other explorers, traders and missionaries remarked on the game, how rough it could be and the various ways it was played tribe to tribe or region to region. In the 19th century, White players began playing the game, called Lacrosse because the meshed top of the stick resembled a bishop's crozier, or staff of office, called a crosse d'evique. White players standardized the rules, the playing field size, team size, etc., and took some of the roughness out of the game, but the basics are still there. Lacrosse, Wisconsin owes its name to early explorers seeing Natives playing a match in the area. Ball Ground, Georgia, takes its name from Cherokee ball fiends that were near the area. Just as some White players are crazy about their sport of choice, and want to play it and live it as much as possible, some Natives felt the same way. Osceola was a skilled player of the two stick variety and was often seen with his ball sticks, trying to interest anyone in a pickup match. He helped to organize a match at Fort King, now Ocala, Florida, in 1837, to entertain White officers there. 
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