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The Fastest Game on Two Feet - part 1
Lacrosse, originally know as Baggataway, is one of the oldest organised sports, originating amongst the North American Indians of the Plains in the 1400s. In all its forms the Native version of lacrosse was an athletic contest of great skill, pride and spiritual significance. It was so popular in fact that many sports historians considered it the original national pastime. The Indigenous peoples believe the game was given to them by the Creator for his enjoyment. It was considered more than just a game and Native people played to help in the healing process, to settle disputes, for spiritual development, and to prepare for war. The traditional face-off (toss-up) included the teams yelling the name of their creator, with sticks raised to the sky.
The sport was played in a much rougher form than it is today as training for combat. Teams had as many as 1,000 players vying to move a small, deerskin ball (or by some accounts, the ball was a small skull) past their opponent's goal. Players used three- to four-foot long sticks with small nets on the end to throw, catch and carry the ball. Goals were miles apart with no sidelines limiting the playing area and games lasted two to three days with "time outs" between sunset and sunrise. The primary objective was to disable as many of the opposition's players as possible with the "crosse" or stick, and only then to be concerned with scoring goals!
The "game" did not become generally known and talked about however, until the 1600s when a Jesuit missionary named Jean de Brebeuf saw the Hyron Indians play it. In a report to his superiors, he stated little about the actual play of the game but seemed to be intrigued by the stick the indians used while playing which he likened to the "crosier" carried at religious ceremonies by a bishop. Thus, the name La Crosse evolved, and this later became simply "lacrosse".
In the summer of 1763 the Sauk and Ojibway tribes needed a plan to recapture Fort Michilimackinac (upper Michigan) from the British. The British were at war with the French and controlled all the trading in the Upper-Midwest. Since the Ojibway and Sauk preferred the French's favourable trading practices over those of the English they devised a unique plan, using a lacrosse game to distract the British soldiers so they could take over the fort. The date for the game was set to coincide with the English King's birthday when the soldiers would be free from their duties and ready to be entertained by the public wagering on the game. On the day of the game the women of both tribes lined up along the wall in front of the main gate with tomahawks, knives and war clubs under their shawls and blankets. As the game moved closer to the main gate the ball was thrown into the Fort. The players from both teams dropped their sticks, grabbing the weapons from the women and stormed the unsuspecting British through the open main gate capturing the Fort and all the goods, and that's how Lacrosse defeated the British!
A Canadian dentist, George Beers, is designated the father of modern lacrosse. He revised the rules and it was his set of rules that was adopted by the National Lacrosse Association of Canada in 1867. Lacrosse became so popular in Canada that it was named the national sport.
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