Lacrosse first started off by being played by Native Americans around the time when Europeans first arrived in their land. Lacrosse stands out because of the sticks they use. They resemble a pool skimmer, and this is what dignifies the sport, like hockey and their hockey sticks, and like jai alai with their gloves. At one end of the stick is a round end with a net, used to cradle the ball, and the Native Americans used crude materials to make this net, such as animal skins. The object of the game was to score a goal by throwing the ball into a net, which was guarded by a goalie, and one rule that remains constant with any rules of lacrosse is that the ball cannot be touched by any of the players" hands.
Data and information on this game was only derived in the late nineteenth century, and most of the information gathered only told of the rules and regulations, information on the equipment, team size, etc. Only a couple of authors wrote about strategies, stick handling, and complex rituals performed for the game. So with this lack of information, the true history of the sport will forever remain dormant. Other speculators tried to tie the history of lacrosse with other games played in Meso-America.
There are three different types of equipment used by the three different regional tribes. The three tribes are the southeastern, Great Lakes, and Iroquoian. In the southeastern tribes, they used dual sticks, usually around two and a half feet long, and they both had the same netting at the end of the stick. In the Great Lakes, they used a single three-foot stick, which was crudely morphed into its shape, either by carving or scorching. In the Iroquoian tribes, they used sticks usually more than 3 feet long, which would define it as the longest sticks used out of all the tribes.
The name was derived from the word "crosse", meaning any games played with a crude stick. Around the nineteenth century, some English people adopted the game and began to play league competitions, the type that was adopted was the Iroquoian tribe's.
