American Indian Lacrosse

From the first great super bowls of America, those heroic, spiritual contests played out on mile-long arenas for days at a time, to the modern box game on struggling reservations, Indian lacrosse is a telling thread in our national tapestry, and Tom Vennum has brought it to life. -- Robert Lipsyte, New York Times sports columnist In our attempts to be better, to be successful, to be champions, American Indian Lacrosse helps us achieve greater reward-understanding the essence of the game. -- David Klarmann, head lacrosse coach, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Never before has the story of American Indian lacrosse been told in such a way... [Vennum] explains how the sports world failed to give proper recognition to what was once solely a Native American game. -- Mark Burnam, 1993 Major Indoor Lacrosse League Champion

Here Thomas Vennum brings this world to life.To understand the aboriginal roots of lacrosse, one must enter a world of spiritual belief and magic where players sewed inchworms into the innards of lacrosse balls and medicine men gazed at miniature lacrosse sticks to predict future events, where bits of bat wings were twisted into the stick's netting, and where famous players were-and are still-buried with their sticks. Here Thomas Vennum brings this world to life.