A Gift from the Natives: The Origins of Lacrosse

The history of lacrosse is a rich one that reaches back centuries to the time when North America still belonged to its native residents. It was incredibly important to its originators, as it was intrinsically connected to their lives in many ways. And like so many other aspects of Native American life, when the invading whites learned of the game, they adopted it, changed it, and made it into the sport that’s thriving today across the same areas in which it was born.

Lacrosse is of course a French word. The various tribes that played the game up and down what would later become the original thirteen colonies and throughout the Great Lakes region generally called it a name that depicted the action of hitting a small ball with a stick. The French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf was one of the first foreigners to see the game played by some Huron Indians and coined name “lacrosse” when he wrote about it in 1636. The Jesuits condemned the game for its betting aspect and religious connections and it would be a long time before it caught on with the settlers.

The sport we know as lacrosse was far more than recreation to Native Americans; it was used to settle disputes between villages and tribes, it celebrated religious events, and it toughen up youngsters as a surrogate to war, so much so the game was called “little brother to war” by the Eastern Cherokees. The play of the game was understood to parallel the cycles of sun and moon, the transition of the seasons, and even the interactions between the gods. And it brought the people together. The games had a socializing element that helped harmonize many different groups and the betting associated with the games can be seen as an equalizing redistribution of wealth.

Although the resemblances are undeniable, the games played throughout the region varied from nation to nation and tribe-to-tribe. The game equipment originated as wooden sticks or cudgels and a wooden ball around the same size as is used today. Tribes in the north eventually developed sticks with sinew baskets at the end that resemble the crosses used today. Leather balls stuffed with animal hair replaced the wooden balls. One variation in the south, called Toli, uses two sticks to grasp the ball and is still played today by the Choctaws in Mississippi, who regularly beat the Flying Rats, a Toli team fielded by the University of Georgia Anthropology Dept.

European colonists were intrigued by lacrosse and began to learn and love the game. They added their own structure and rules. In 1856 a Canadian dentist named William George Beers founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club and the next year codified the rules and equipment into the sport we recognize today. The game caught on in Europe when Queen Victoria saw an exhibition game and endorsed the sport as “…very pretty to watch.” Lacrosse was briefly included as an Olympic sport around the turn of the century and after 1908 was included in the World Games. Canada embraced an indoor version of the game called Box Lacrosse in lieu of the earlier version due mainly to long Northern winters.

Nowadays, this great sport has enjoyed growing popularity. More clubs are opening every year and schools of all levels are including it in their curriculums. Lacrosse’s rising popularity speaks to its merits, one of which is its storied past and the ancient connection to the land and its original inhabitants to whom we owe so much.

#history #lacrosse #nativeamericanlife