COMMANDER TANK'S MAGIC TIME PORTAL TO ANCIENT LACROSSE GAMES

The game had many names depending on the tribe and their language.
For example.......... It was dehuntshigwa'es in Onondaga ("men hit a
rounded object"), da-nah-wah'uwsdi in Eastern Cherokee ("little
war"), Tewaarathon in Mohawk language ("little brother of war"),
baaga`adowe in Ojibwe ("knocking about of balls"), and "baggatway"
in Alqonquin language.

Lacrosse traditionally had many different purposes. Conflict
resolution, venting aggression, and territorial disputes between tribes
were sometimes settled with a game, although not always amicably.
Case in point.....A Creek versus Choctaw game around 1790 to
determine rights over a beaver pond broke out into a violent battle
when the Creeks were declared winners. But the majority of the
games ended peaceably. Training of young warriors to toughen them
up in preparation for combat was another use of the games. In fact,
much of the ceremonialism surrounding their preparations and the
rituals required of the players were identical to those practiced
before departing on the warpath.

The game has played a significant role in the community and religious
life of tribes across the continent for many years. Early lacrosse was
characterized by deep spiritual involvement, befitting the spirit of
combat in which it was undertaken. Those who took part did so in the
role of warriors, with the goal of bringing glory and honor to
themselves and their tribes, and as a religious ritual the game was said
to be played "for the pleasure of the Creator."

In original Native Indian versions of the game, each team was made up
of 100 to 1000 braves on a field that stretched from 500 yards to
half a mile, or even sometimes several miles long with practically no
side boundaries. Wow.....Can you imagine that? A solemn dance
preceded the game, after which the ball was tossed into the air and
the two sides rushed to catch it on "crosses", similar to those now in
use. The medicine-men acted as umpires, and the women of the tribe
urged on the men by beating them with switches. Rather than using
modern goals where the ball had to pass through the goal posts, many
of the Native American teams used a large rock or tree as their goal.
Early balls were made out of the heads of the enemy, deerskin, clay,
stone, and sometimes wood.They would hit these balls against the goal
to earn points. The length of these games varied, lasting from sunup to
sundown or for several days. Often players were gravely injured or
even killed. At least you were't beheaded like in the early Aztec ball
games!

Did you know that in modern times The Iroquois Nationals are a team
consisting of members of the Six Nations of the Iroquois
Confederacy? The team was admitted to the International Lacrosse
Federation (ILF) in 1990. It is the only Native American team
sanctioned to compete in any sport internationally. The Nationals
placed fourth in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Lacrosse
Championships. In 2006, the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Program
signed a partnership with Nike, Inc.

The game spread through cities like Boston like wild fire in the 1700s.
By the 1800s, lacrosse evolved to become more of an organized sport
and less violent as French pioneers adopted the game. In 1867, W.
George Beers, a Canadian dentist, codified the game. In his rules, he
shortened the duration of the game and reduced the number of
players to ten per team. By the 1900s, many high schools, colleges and
universities had adopted lacrosse as a league sport. Lacrosse became
an Olympic sport for the 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympics, but was
then dropped as an official sport.

It is played with ten players (men's field), six players (men's box), or
twelve players (women's field), each of whom uses a netted stick (the
crosse) in order to pass and catch a hard rubber ball with the aim of
scoring goals (each worth one point traditionally, but Major League
Lacrosse uses a two point goal for goals scored from a distance of 16
yards or greater from the goal) by propelling the ball into the
opponent's goal. The team scoring the most points after two halves,
of varying length from competition to competition, and overtime if
necessary, wins.

Its origins are rooted in legend, and the game continues to be used
for curative purposes and surrounded with ceremony. Game
equipment and players are still ritually prepared by conjurers, and
team selection and victory are often considered supernaturally
controlled.

The spread of non-native lacrosse from the Montreal area eventually
led to its position today worldwide as one of the fastest growing sports
(more than half a million players), controlled by official regulations and
played with manufactured rather than hand-made equipment. Even
though the Great Lakes' traditional game died out by 1950, the
Iroquois and southeastern tribes continue to play their own forms of
lacrosse.

The field lacrosse game of non-native women today most closely
resembles the Indian game of the past, retaining the wooden stick,
lacking the protective gear and demarcated sidelines of the men's
game, and tending towards mass attack rather than field positions and
offsides.

The equipment consists of a ball (called the towa, a rock wrapped in
cloth then laced with leather cord) and a tall stick, ranging from ten to
twenty feet tall. An item is placed on the top of the stick, often a cow
skull; however, this is not always the case. Some tribes, like the
Choctaw and Cherokee had goals similar to American football goals.
The object of the game is to strike the skull, a portion of the pole, or
the top of the stick with the ball. Hitting the skull is worth more points
than the stick. The exact point values vary with the players. The field
may have been anywhere from a few hundred yards to a few miles.

The game is full-contact. A player holding the ball is a target for every
player on the other team, who will body-slam, tackle, trip, or
otherwise attempt to regain the ball. The player's own team will, in
turn, attempt to hurl the other team away from the thrower so he
may aim carefully.

In premodern times, these games could result in serious injury,
maiming or death; its nickname, "the little brother of war," was apt as
it was often a way to resolve intra- or inter-group hostilities with a
lower death rate than outright combat. Even when played today, it can
result in broken bones or lacerations! OuCh!