Show IN THESE UNITED STATES mayhem prevails as indians renew ancient competition features CHEROKEE N C cherokee indians smile politely at hoary football traditions which have pitted teams against each other at the longest count for only two generations before de soto came through this country in 1540 ancient indian clans for centuries had been competing in stickball a competition so honored in time and custom and so intent in purpose that the annual games were sur rounded by secret rites and cere monies A renewal of that ancient rivalry is staged annually as a highlight of the cherokee fall fair although later day games lack a lot of the blood letting of aboriginal days an innovation at this tall fall s fair was a stickball game in which children s teams competed tor for the first time publicly rough Is right the game itself also played by other indian tribes in america is one of the roughest sports in the world forerunner of lacrosse it is played with a small ball with 10 placers on a side each armed with two small home made rackets the idea is to propel the ball across a goal line represented by two wil lows stuck in the ground the ball may be advanced in any manner whatever 1 I carried thrown passed or kicked once on the ground how ever it may not be picked up except with the rackets what makes indian ball so ex citing Is simply the absence of rules once a player has the ball he is fair game for any sort of treatment including mayhems stripped to trunks the indians run tackle wrestle choke and bite without let or hindrance the rackets sometimes are used in whacking opponents over the head or across the shins what the spectators see is some thing like this opposing teams march on the field and face each other in two lines where individual opponents are matched sometimes after much wrangling each man has a per bonal opponent and they are mutu ally responsible for guarding their opposites the ball formerly a hick ory nut is tossed into the air and the game is on when a player gets the ball he usually pops it into his mouth and lights out for the goal opponents are privileged to run him down choke the ball out of his mouth or otherwise discourage him the team first getting 12 goals is winner A game might last 30 minutes it might last all day A player at tempting to tackle a ball carrier is liable to prompt tackling by his guard or anyone and sometimes ome times the game comes to a stalemate with 10 wrestling matches going on at once there are no rest periods and no substitutions it if a player is dis abbed the opposing team must dis card a man and the game continues on the field are drivers elderly men who are armed with long switches with these they point toward the small and often obscure ball or to the player hiding it crying hahm bahni here here herel they also are empowered to beat any laggard player but this lege seldom is exercised nowadays some surreptitious betting is done as the teams meet in midfield in former days the squaws were the heaviest bettors putting up wagers of beads blankets cattle baskets and even their shorn locks element of culture the ball gain games es were important in ancient cherokee culture originally there were six clans of which there are ale vestigial remains of tour four the clans had a blood revenge pattern and there was one town of refuge echota cechota Ec hota in which prospective vie vic tims were inviolate many social taboos including marrying joking and other relationships were de fined by clan rules which height ened rivalry of the ball games teams were carefully prepared tor for the contests the rites include including ing a purification of rackets at the nv er a edge of players with rattlesnake fangs and all night dances today little remains of this although elders sometimes still gather team members for confer ances the nature of which are not freely discussed young bucks so by overseas service laugh at the old superstitions but the teams nevertheless usually emerge as a unit from the banks of the just before going into action |