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What's the
oldest sport in North America?

2
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It might be lacrosse.

3
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Native lacrosse has been played
by Indigenous peoples

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across North America
for centuries.

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Different groups

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had different versions
and names for the game,

7
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but the basic elements
were pretty consistent: a ball,

8
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a stick with a web or pocket,
and an area of play.

9
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But there were some
big differences.

10
00:00:18,118 --> 00:00:19,052
Unlike modern

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lacrosse,
the Native game could vary

12
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in the number of players and
the size of the playing field.

13
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In speaking to this kind of
game, there's no boundaries.

14
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So wherever the ball goes,
that's your play.

15
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We didn't want to interfere
with the spirit

16
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of what's happening
in that game.

17
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Dozens

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or even hundreds of people
might play in a game

19
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that covered
huge parts of the landscape.

20
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And Native lacrosse
was more than just a game.

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It could be a form of medicine,
a spiritual practice,

22
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and sometimes even a substitute
for war.

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Oral traditions
locate this game in the deep

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history of Indigenous
traditions.

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The earliest written references
from European

26
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travelers are all the way
back in the 1600s.

27
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It just might be
North America's oldest sport.