Ceremonial Lacrosse

by a member of the Bear Clan


Hōcąk Interlinear Text


Original Texts: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |


(1) They were saying how the Lower Moiety used to play the Upper Moiety in lacrosse. They gave them a stick with tobacco attached. The Upper Moiety were the ones who did it. Again the Lower Moiety received it. Again they did it to them. They made a stick with tobacco attached. Then the day was fixed. It would be in four days so that they might fix their sticks, as some of them were without sticks altogether, and the Upper Moiety said that they were the only ones who were fleet. That's how they lived. (2) So, that being the case, in looking for food, they would return the sooner. Since they were faster, they would win from them. Their men have led a holy life, and for that reason his young men would be strengthened, he said. Then also the head one of the Lower Moiety said that he had poured tobacco. "That I arose to have Life, I became a strong man, and with this strength, for that reason they will be strengthened. My young men will be strengthened. (3) That I arose to have my life be holy, in that way they will be strengthened. That's what they say.

Then they made the goals. They arranged the points. They practiced how they would run away from them faster, thus they did. They vomited, also they did sweat baths, and how they would be strong the longest, and this way they did. The goal posts were stood far apart. They said (where) they were going to be. (4) When they were gathered together, two told their (war) stories. Two brave men would tell their stories, one from the Lower Moiety and one from the Upper Moiety. They selected two brave men. "We are about to have competition, and I did very well in war: I cut off a man's head, and then my sisters were proud. They danced happily in peace." He said, "This is who you will play against," thus he spoke. (5) Then again the other told his story. And again he said, "And in the war which was spoken of, I did as I pleased, and there was one who was killed between the firing lines. I thought to myself, 'I am a man.' I ran hard for him, and although they shot at me, I cut off his head. This is who you will play against," he said. Then he gave a whoop, and they shouted in unison.

Then they tossed the ball up. They did mighty lacrosse. They said that the first to make four goals would be the winner. (6) It is said that they played all day long. They finished late in the evening, it is said. They say that that's the way they were. If there was one game that they liked, it was this one, it is said. They say that it was their greatest game. This is all concerning lacrosse.


Radin's Translation

The Wañgᴇrégi and the Manégi people were to play lacrosse. So the Wañgᴇrégi took an invitation stick and attached some tobacco to it and sent it to the Manégi people. Thus they fixed a day for the contest. The contest was to be in four days. In the meantime both sides were to get ready, for some might be without balls or sticks, etc. Then the Wañgᴇrégi said, "We are the fleeter and will therefore go and look for food." When they returned the leader of the Wañgᴇrégi said again, "We are the fleeter and will therefore win from our opponents. In addition to that we are holy and for that reason we will be strengthened in the coming contest." Then the leader of the Manégi said, "I will first pour tobacco and then I will arise with the blessing of life which was bestowed upon me and through which I know my men will be strengthened." Then they arranged the goals, i.e., the wak‘árani, and arranged for the points. Then they took an emetic and went into a vapor-bath in order to strengthen themselves. The goals were now standing far apart from each other. Then the people who were to play gathered on the field and two men from each side began to tell their war exploits. First, one of the Wañgᴇrégi men told how he had cut off an enemy's head; how proud his sisters had been at receiving the gifts and how they had danced in the Victory Dance. "With such a man you will have to play," he shouted to those on the other side. Then a man from the Manégi side said, "I also am a brave man. I did with the enemy as I pleased. Once when an enemy had been killed between the firing lines, I rushed for him and in the midst of bullets I cut off his head. With such a man you will have to fight," he shouted to those on the other side. Then he gave a whoop and the ball was thrown into the air and they began to play lacrosse. Those who first succeeded in putting the ball through the wak‘árani four times would be declared the winners. All day they played and in the evening they stopped. Lacrosse was the favorite game among the Winnebago. This is all.


 
NAA INV 06610200
Lacrosse Sticks

Commentary. "moiety" — the tribe is divided into two halves called "moieties". The basic purpose of moieties was to insure exogamy. This was effected by requiring that members of each moiety marry someone only from the other moiety. Exogamy prevents inbreeding, which leads to genetic anomalies. The Wolf Clan was the sole exception because in the theology of the old religion, it was believed that it's inherent in the wolf nature to transgress boundaries. The constituents of moieties were the clans:

The Thunderbird Clan was the clan of the chief, and was as a whole considered the foremost clan. However, the Bear Clan, which had a rivalry with the Waterspirit Clan over who was chief in the Lower Moiety, had complete power of things concerning land. As that involved treaties, it proved to be a significant power.

Radin, Winnebago Tribe, 120
A, Goal, Upper Moiety side. B, C, Goal guards of the Upper Moiety side. A', Goal, Lower Moiety side. B', C', Goal guards of the Lower Moiety side. D, mound from which the ball is thrown.

"lacrosse" — Paul Radin describes the men's lacrosse game:1

The men's game was called tcaboninóņugis hik‘isik‘. There were either 12 or 22 men on each side, placed in the following manner: Two, one of each side, stood in front of the arched sapling which constituted one of the goals (wak‘árani); these were called woixᵉiŋgra. There were, of course, two goals, each about 10 feet high, one at each end of the field. About midway between the goals a small mound was made from which the ball was thrown. Ten or twenty men, as the case may be, covered the ground between the mound and the two men stationed at each wak‘árani. The lacrosse stick was called tcabonadúgis, and the ball used either tci-okónôñkra or waⁿiⁿíⁿṇa. The object of the game was to put the ball through the goal four times. At the beginning of the game the ball was thrown straight into the air from the mound. (For the plan of the game, see the illustration above.)

As can be seen above, the stick is provided with a net which can cradle the ball. Once in the net, the runner can keep it and maneuver across the field, or throw it with a swing of his stick. Unlike its warlike cousins, American football and ice hockey, there are no penalties and therefore, there are no referees. The results could be mayhem should the stick be used, as it sometimes is in hockey, to strike an opponent. The rim of the lacrosse stick is a strip of thin wood, so using the end as a warclub can result in the destruction of the stick itself, rendering it incapable of holding a ball. Just the same, the results were often a wild melée, leading to its appellation, "the little war".

George Catlin
Hōcąk Women Playing Lacrosse

Despite its violence, the game was not restricted to men.

The women's game was called naiyacáradji uñk‘isik‘. Ten women took part on each side; they all stood in front of the goal, which consisted merely of a line drawn on the surface of the ground, called wak‘árani as in the men's game. The lacrosse stick (tcabenoṇa) was straight. The "ball" consisted of two balls tied together by a string (naiyacáradjiᵉuⁿ waⁿiⁿina). This was put into play by being thrown from a point midway between the goals straight up into the air. The side that hit over the goal four times won.2

It's apparent from Catlin's painting (above) that the rule of ten players on each side could be ignored.

"they did it to them" — apparently, the Lower Moiety reciprocated by sending an invitation stick of their own.

"the only ones" — it may be appreciated that this kind of talk is incredibly arrogant. However, this apparent hubris is attested in an early source:

Those named from the Thunders or Elements, who "kindled the fire," are said to have the most power, and they claim to be superior to the others. ... Those belonging to the First Thunder Family or Elemental Family are not slow to remind even the Second Thunder Family, or Visible-Bird Family, of their right of precedence ... if two whose names are of the First and Second Thunders, get into a dispute with each other, the former will sometimes end the argument contemptuously by saying, "Why, you are nothing but a feather of mine," and some will go so far as to say, "you are nothing but the fuzz of my feathers;" and even the children learn early to retort in this wise.3

It is plain to see that it was the practice, when it came to any kind of competition, for the Upper Moiety to assert its dominance over its other half.

"in that way" — in other words, because he, the leader, has ascended to a holy status, his personal power will redound upon his men and make them stronger.


Notes to the Commentary

1 Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1923) 120.
2 Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 121.
3 Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1; #1, p. 4, col. 4.


Source

Paul Radin, "Ceremonial Lacrosse," Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Notebook 42 (phonetic text with interlinear translation). English translation published in Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1923) 120-121.