Lacrosse is the oldest team sport being played in North America today. It is believed to have originated around 1100. It was connected to Native American mythology. Eastern Woodland Indians felt it was part of the creation of man. A gift from the gods. It was played birds versus animals before man picked it up. It had a variety of purposes. It could be used to prepare young warriors for war. Or to socialize between tribes. Sometimes it facilitated trade. It could be used to settle tribal disputes.
The game was played in a large open field. The goals consisted of two large rocks or trees. The opposing goals could be 500 yards to 6 miles apart. Teams could be from 100 to 1,000 Indians. The players put on war paint. Medicine men performed rituals. The players made wagers like handkerchiefs, knives, trinkets, or even horses. The players used sticks, sometimes with baskets attached. To French missionaries, the sticks with baskets looked like bishops’ crosses, hence the name “lacrosse”. The balls were wrapped with deer skin. The rules varied. No hands. Passes were frowned on. You weren’t supposed to run around opponents. You were to run through them. Games may last a few days.
Lacrosse became the national sport of Canada in 1859. (I bet you thought it was hockey.) In 1904 and 1908, it was a sport in the Summer Olympics. There is a push to have it return in 2028. Bet on Canada if that happens.
In 1763, the local Ojibwa Indians invited British soldiers from Fort Michilimackinac to watch a game. The action kept getting closer and closer to the fort until the Indians rushed through the gate and began a massacre.
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