Native Americans reclaim lacrosse
| St. Paul, Minn.
David Bezh Butler holds a shell bowl the size of a coconut in his palm, a fine line of smoke from burning herbs swirling into the air. One by one, he passes it among the 15 players of the Twin Cities Native Lacrosse team circled up on the Oxford Community Center field.
鈥淭his is for anyone who is bringing anything extra to the game,鈥� says Mr. Butler, a self-described elder at the pickup match, as he leads the smudging ritual. 鈥淲hatever energy you bring to the game is what you get back.鈥�
This ceremony, performed before each game, does more than set a mindful tone.聽It鈥檚 integral to what community lacrosse stands for here in the Twin Cities 鈥� home to one of the largest urban populations of American Indians in the country: healing and building community.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onLacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, but it has lost connection with its Indigenous roots. Now, some in the Native American community are trying to restore its traditions.
Unlike its modern, competitive counterpart 鈥� and its stereotypical 鈥減reppy, East Coast鈥� image, according to players here 鈥� community lacrosse is not about who wins. Tribal teams participate in the competitive variety too, but here in the Twin Cities, the community game is about respect and having fun. The 鈥淐reator鈥檚 game,鈥� as it is referred to within the community, can be played in celebration 鈥� to honor a family member鈥檚 college graduation 鈥� or in prayer for someone struggling with health issues.
Though lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States among young people, many are unaware of the Native origins of the game. But there is a growing movement within Native communities in parts of the U.S. and Canada to remedy that, by reclaiming it and then educating a wider public about its origins. Gaining more agency over a sport that has been colonized and re-appropriated is one way that Native communities are reasserting their identities and building cultural resilience.
鈥淚 think the majority culture should be informed about the origins of the sport,鈥� says Anton Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe language and culture at Bemidji State University in Minnesota. 鈥淭hey should acknowledge [it] at collegiate events and use it as an opportunity to leverage attention to the history and the often marginalized Indigenous communities that shared it with the world.鈥�
鈥淎t the same time, Native people should be encouraged and empowered to revitalize the Indigenous form of lacrosse and all of its cultural teachings and healing modalities.鈥�
Physical and spiritual
The scarcity of data means that the origins of lacrosse are unclear, but the game is thought to date back to A.D. 1100, when it was played by the Haudenosaunee,聽an alliance of six nations from the Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora tribes, spanning Canada and the northeast region of North America that have聽historically聽(and ) been known as the Iroquois Confederacy.
While early accounts show that the game was played similarly to war 鈥� to settle disputes between communities or tribes 鈥� it was also played for enjoyment or as a medicine game.
鈥淟acrosse served multiple purposes. ... It has cultural and sacred dimensions,鈥� says Mr. Treuer. 鈥淭he healing happens on multiple levels. There are physical, emotional, and spiritual modalities.鈥�
The traditional stickball game can take three basic forms 鈥� the Iroqouian, Great Lakes, and Southeastern 鈥� which differ in equipment and stick-handling techniques. The modern, competitive game most closely resembles the Iroquoian game, whose stick ended with a large, triangular net, versus the Great Lakes version 鈥� the one played in the Twin Cities 鈥� which used a stick with a round, closed net pocket and deer hide-wrapped ball.
The modern, competitive game of lacrosse, by contrast, in which players wear protective padding, employs sticks up to 6 feet long and a rubber ball, which players use to catch, carry, and shoot into the opposing team鈥檚 goal. Although it is one of the fastest-growing sports on U.S. college campuses, and 69 countries are represented within World Lacrosse (the international governing body), lacrosse has not been included in the Olympic Games since 1908.
One of the many teams looking to change that is the Haudenosaunee Nationals men鈥檚 lacrosse squad. The team finished third at the last two world championship competitions and says it is the only Indigenous team in any sport to compete at that level.
But the Nationals have bumped up against administrative hurdles in some international competitions. While the Haudenosaunee have their own passports, their members come from parts of Ontario and upstate New York.
鈥淭here were questions about, are we a legitimate participant? Are we a country? It鈥檚 been interesting to engage with governments, who are not fully cognizant of our status,鈥� says Leo Nolan, the executive director of the Nationals.
And though the team plays the modern version of the game during competitions, it tries to retain the traditional, community aspect of the original activity. Oren Lyons, the team鈥檚 faith keeper, helps the team maintain spirituality and peace by performing a ceremony with tobacco before each game as a way of 鈥渞eaching to the Creator,鈥� says Mr. Nolan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for all of us to understand what lacrosse was originally about,鈥� says Mr. Nolan. 鈥淣ow over the course of time, lacrosse has moved on to a more contemporary game, but it doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 respect what the Creator gave us. One of our responsibilities is to share this game with others.鈥�
Still, some players are ambivalent about advertising the intricacies of traditional styles of lacrosse to a wider public, due to the way Indigenous people鈥檚 cultural traditions have been erased in the past.
鈥淢any cultural holders don鈥檛 want to share their practices because they feel like they will be attacked again, and there鈥檚 been a long history of control and repression,鈥� says Janice Forsyth, associate professor of sociology and the director of Indigenous Studies at Western University in London, Ontario.
鈥淭here are others who want to say, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檝e survived and we鈥檙e still here.鈥� ... Communities will decide whether it鈥檚 important to revive their own ball-and-stick game and decide who they want to be.鈥�
鈥淟earn the history鈥�
Out on the pitch at the Oxford Community Center, players from the TC Native Lacrosse team gather at the sidelines for a midmatch water break.聽The team includes people of all tribes, but the game focuses primarily on Ojibwe and Dakota traditions.聽Mr. Butler, who ran today鈥檚 game, says he hopes lacrosse can become as accessible as soccer or basketball. 鈥淵ou get some sticks, a ball, and a couple of people and it鈥檚 a game.鈥�
Mr. Butler has taken his community lacrosse know-how to South High School in Minneapolis, where he runs the All Nations Program, an academic curriculum designed for American Indian students. He鈥檚 gotten an informal lacrosse group together and has been teaching students how to make their own sticks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for them to know how and why you do it,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd to learn the history.鈥�
For Chris Knutsen and Alexandrah Walker, lacrosse is especially meaningful 鈥� they met at a pickup match and got engaged six years later to the day. Mr. Knutsen, who has played both modern and community lacrosse, says he approaches the two games differently.
鈥淲hen I play modern lacrosse, it鈥檚 more competitive and I鈥檓 hard on myself,鈥� he says, tossing a ball made of deer hide during a water break. 鈥淲ith the community game, I feel more happy and uplifted. It鈥檚 OK to make mistakes.鈥�
Ms. Walker did her undergraduate thesis on lacrosse鈥檚 power to heal trauma and wants to continue teaching the game to others.
鈥淔or a long time I didn鈥檛 want to play, but now I always have sticks; we give them away to encourage people to play,鈥� says Ms. Walker, who says lacrosse sticks are an extension of self, each one with its own spirit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our game. Every tribe has its own story. We鈥檙e trying to reclaim and revitalize it, ... the Creator鈥檚 game. We want to take it with us everywhere we go.鈥�
