From the Annals of Failed Term Papers (either through idiocy or lack of effort)

Published April 25, 2007

This section highlights academic pursuits of UVM students that never quite materialized. We want to share with you the great papers that never-were.

Title: Lacrosse: Cultural Hegemony, Appropriation and the Perseverance of Medieval Warfare in an American Game

Author: Paul Brigham, STUDIO ART MAJOR
Class: Anthropology 133: Western Sport and Collective Cultural Nostalgia

Abstract:
Lacrosse, first played by Native Americans as an exercise of tribal prowess, has been appropriated by Western imperialism for its own purposes. Upon the arrival of colonial power, traditional lacrosse fused with existing European battle tactics, which have their origin in medieval warfare. The result was a hybridized game that was one part tribal and two parts feudal: the sticks became cutlasses, armor was donned, and a traditional kinglike hierarchy formed.

Outline:

Paragraph One:
The colonial powers usurped the game of lacrosse, stripped it of its original purpose and inserted their own, which was at the same time tamer and more corrupt. While the Native Americans played the game as a religious ritual that was deeply connected with warfare, the settlers toned the game down and infused it with the capitalist (and neo-Viking) tendencies to rape, pillage and destroy all in the name of fun. Thus, the field was regularized into a small pitch (sometimes the Native Americans would designate over a mile of field) and the colonial powers introduced many silly rules, white lines and bylaws which reflect the inherent European sensibility to impose order on something to the point of absurdity.

Paragraph Two:

Though the game retains the basic structure of the Native American one, it has been melded with European tactics of assault. The game becomes a crusade where one team’s armored defenders protect the “grail” or “goal.” The midfielders run around like knights from the round table and the attackers move the ball up the field to the true midfield crusaders and get it to the attack. The launching of the ball recalls the catapult, the sticks used to bludgeon the other team act as swords of varying length, the captain of the team becomes the king who showed bravery at one point but now just bosses people around, and the face-offs become akin to the one-on-one jousting matches popular in the time of King Arthur.

Paragraph Three:

This appropriation demonstrates the propensity of colonialism to live out the theory of “love and theft” – the dominant culture loves something and then steals it without recognizing its origins or creators. Now, lacrosse is, ironically, played by the richest, WASP-iest, prep school kids whose old New England families are partially responsible for the decimation of the indigenous culture in the first place. A game once used to train warriors is now used to allow the future investment bankers of the world to release tension in game that emphasizes stick size and ball-handling skills.

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