In American Indian Lacrosse, Thomas Vennum, Jr., presents for the first time the Native American history of a game with worldwide popularity and more than 300,000 non-Indian players in the United States and Canada alone.

Featuring rare archival illustrations, American Indian Lacrosse presents the richest available account of the rules, equipment, techniques, regional differences, and legendary underpinnings of the game among tribes of the Northeast, Southeast, and Great Lakes regions. Vivid fictional narratives interspersed through the book describe important Indian games of the past, such as the 1763 Ojibwe/Sauk game that included a preplanned surprise attack - and capture - of Fort Michilimackinac on Lake Michigan.

Often viewed as a gift from the spirits and as far more than recreation alone, lacrosse has functioned in Indian life as a surrogate or "little brother" of war, as a healing ritual, and as a memorial celebration. Games were played to settle territorial disputes and, with wagering, as a substitute for the plunder of victory. Vennum fully describes the spiritual components of the game, including the physical and ritual preparation of athletes, equipment, and the playing field itself.

Tracing the evolution of Indian lacrosse equipment, Vennum comments on the changes brought by American and Canadian enthusiasm for the game. Excluded from official international competition until 1990, and deprived of their franchise in traditional wooden sticks by the advent of mass-produced plastic and aluminum models, Native Americans have nevertheless held tightly to their traditional sport.