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- Kacie Lucchini Butcher:
This is a lacrosse stick.

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It's used to play lacrosse.

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This is also a lacrosse stick.

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It's an example of the kind
used by Native peoples

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in the Great Lakes area.

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They played the original game
of lacrosse

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hundreds of years before the
modern game was developed.

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But lacrosse wasn't limited
to the Great Lakes.

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Versions of the game were played
by Indigenous people

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across many parts
of North America.

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And it turns out,
lacrosse wasn't just a game.

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It could also be medicine,
spirituality,

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or even a substitute for war.

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And thanks to a combination
of oral tradition,

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physical artifacts,
and written records,

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we can explore the deep history
and significance of this sport.

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So, let's dive in to one of the
oldest games in the Americas,

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a game that's still being played
by Native peoples today.

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[upbeat music]

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What is lacrosse?

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- Tracy Littlejohn: Lacrosse is
a western term for a game

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that has been played throughout
what is now the United States.

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Lots of different tribes
have their version of it.

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Sometimes
you'll see different sticks.

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But basically, it's got
the same premise for everybody.

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- Mark Denning: So,
Taylor and everybody,

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welcome to the
Indian Community School.

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It's a beautiful
and amazing place.

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- Averie Anderson: Hello,
my name is Averie Anderson.

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I coach lacrosse here
at Indian Community School.

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Mark Denning is my mentor.

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We started coaching, started
doing clinics across the city

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to help revitalize traditional
lacrosse in Milwaukee.

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- Taylor Bailey: The traditional
Native game of lacrosse

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has a history that goes back
hundreds of years.

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Many Native peoples
across eastern North America

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played some version
of this game.

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The basic elements were a ball,
an area of play,

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and a lacrosse stick.

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Unlike the modern game,

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the Native game could vary
in the number of players

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and the size
of the playing field.

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Dozens or even hundreds
of people might play in a game,

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and the area could be
much larger

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than today's lacrosse fields.

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- So, in speaking to this kind
of game, there's no boundaries.

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So, wherever the ball goes,

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if it goes off into wherever
it might be, or in the water,

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or behind something,
that's your play.

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- That's playable.
- That's where it is.

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We didn't wanna interfere
with the spirit

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of what's happening
in that game.

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That game has a life.

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Just as we have a life
and a purpose,

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our games have a life
and a purpose.

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- How do we know
about lacrosse's history?

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Some of our knowledge comes
from the oral traditions

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and histories of Native people.

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Many of these stories emphasize
the game being a gift

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from the Creator.

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- Our stories are about entities
that existed

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before humans existed,
and they were playing it.

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We learned from them.

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- This game was gifted
by Creation,

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and others took part in it,
the ones above,

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the ones of this earth as we
walk on it, and the ones below.

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They'd all take part
in the game,

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and we were the inheritors
of it.

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- We also get some
of this history

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from Europeans who saw the game.

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The Jesuit missionary
Jean de Brébeuf

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mentioned lacrosse in the 1630s
during his travels

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in the eastern Great Lakes area.

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"If there is a poor, sick man,

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"fevered of body
and almost dying,

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"some healer will order for him
a game of lacrosse

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"as a cooling remedy.

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"Sometimes also, one of these
healers will say

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"that the whole countryside
is sick,

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and he prescribes
a game of lacrosse to heal it."

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- So, was lacrosse a game,
or was it medicine?

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Well, it could be
a lot of things,

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and Native people today
keep this tradition alive.

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- So, when we talk about
traditional lacrosse,

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we play games not just
for social purposes,

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but very much deeper than that.

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So, we have medicine games
that can be for healing,

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it can be for supporting people

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who are going
through a hard time

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and the community wants
to kind of show up

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and surround those people with,
you know, community,

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with love, with food,
with gifts.

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And so, maintaining the game
of traditional lacrosse

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is a responsibility that we hold

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because it is cultural,
it's traditional to us.

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- Lacrosse could also be a means
of settling disputes,

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and even a way to avoid war.

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- I remember my uncles,
my uncle telling me

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about people could choose war
to settle disputes,

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but there was a game that
existed,

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and in playing that game that
we could settle our disputes

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and find peace, and that was
the game of lacrosse.

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So, instead of going to war,
right, two clans, families,

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nations could say,
"We're gonna agree to a game,

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"and the victor of that game
is gonna carry the day

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or the argument."

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- What about the sticks used
to play lacrosse?

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These varied based on the people
and the area.

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The first drawing we have of a
lacrosse stick is from 1790

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by the Italian explorer
Count Paolo Andreani.

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His drawing shows
an Iroquois-style stick.

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It has a bent staff
and a large webbed net

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where the ball would be held.

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But in the Great Lakes area,

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the sticks were generally
a different style.

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- Kacie: We got a close look
at one of these

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at the La Crosse County
Historical Society.

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So, this is a lacrosse stick.

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Will you walk me through the
design of it?

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What is going on here?
- Right.

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This stick is probably
over a hundred years old

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when it was gifted to the
historical society.

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Lacrosse sticks are made
out of harder woods.

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A lot of times,
hickory will be used,

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and they will use--
they used steam.

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And what they'd do is that
they have this basic,

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the shaft of it,

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but then you come up here
and it's a lot narrower.

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And so, then they used the steam
to bend it into this circle,

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and then they'll use leather
or sinew to tie it together.

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So, then you just have a circle
right here,

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and then just some more
leather straps

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go into the middle
to create a net.

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- So, this is where you would
both catch the ball

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and then throw the ball as well?

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- Yep.
- Okay.

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Hold on.

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Is the city of La Crosse named
after the game?

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Yes!

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The American explorer Zebulon
Pike wrote about the area

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back in the early 1800s.

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"September 12,
passed the Racine River,

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"also a prairie called Le Cross,

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"from a game of ball
played frequently on it

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by the Sioux Indians."

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But why was the game of lacrosse
called lacrosse by Europeans?

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If we look at the first
written records of the game,

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Europeans use the phrase "jeu de
crosse," or "jeu de la cross."

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In French, jeu means game.

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And crosse can mean a curved
stick used to play a game.

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Even today, a hockey stick might
be called a crosse in French.

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So, the French writers
who saw the Native game

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called it jeu de la crosse.

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This was a term
they already used

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for other ball and stick games.

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Eventually, this was shortened
to just lacrosse.

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But Native peoples have long had
their own names for this game.

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What is the traditional name
for the game of lacrosse?

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- So, with the Ho-Chunk, our,
what we call it is caabna,

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which is actually the stick
that we're talking about.

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Sometimes, you can also see it
referred to as caabnaikiisik,

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but for the most part,
it's just caabna.

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Other tribes will have
other words that they use

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to call the game or the stick,

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but for us, it's caabna, it's
the stick and it's the game.

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The modern game of lacrosse
was developed in the 1860s

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by a Canadian
named George Beers.

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He based it on a version
of the game

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that was played by the Mohawk.

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Unfortunately,
the game's Native origins

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didn't mean it was open
to Indigenous people.

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Native players were often banned
from playing.

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This likely happened
for a lot of reasons.

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Partly, there was concern that
Native players were too good,

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and partly this was a way
to erase Indigenous culture.

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But in the last few decades,

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Native people have worked hard
to reclaim

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both the modern game and their
traditional lacrosse.

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- Both of you all played
lacrosse yourselves.

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What has been the experience
like playing

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versus teaching other folks
how to play,

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especially with that
cultural element?

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- I love playing lacrosse
because like you said,

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it's that responsibility
to maintain our culture,

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and then it feels good.

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I'm an athlete,
so I love to move,

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I love to, you know,
that healthy movement,

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get your blood pumping,
a little healthy competition,

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but then when I come into a
space where I get to teach it

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and offer that
to a larger group,

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that's that responsibility.

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It's, like, being multiplied.

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- We need to really give sport
its rightful due.

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It's not for everyone
and every child, but for sure,

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at this school, there's a spot
in lacrosse for everyone.

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- Why do you feel like lacrosse
is an important part

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of Indigenous culture?

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- Because it's been used
for several things.

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It's a part of our stories
about our past and our spirits.

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It is just a way to relax
and have fun.

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And it's even been resolving
conflicts with other tribes,

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not just
within our own villages.

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So, it's been a very integral
part of how our society worked

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and resolved things, but also
how we just enjoyed life.

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- The story of lacrosse is part
of the history and culture

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of the Indigenous peoples
of North America.

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It's preserved
in their oral traditions,

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in objects
like lacrosse sticks,

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and in the writings of people

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who witnessed the game
hundreds of years ago.

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Sports and games of all types
are super important

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to people everywhere.

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So, what's the story
behind your favorite game?

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[children cheer]

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[claps]