Deyhontsigwa’ehs: The Creator’s Game,
Lacrosse Weekend 2020

Saturday September 12-Sunday September 13, 2020
Onondaga Lake Park, Liverpool, New York
in the heart of Onondaga Nation Territory

5th Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival

The festival features wooden lacrosse stick makers and other Haudenosaunee crafters. The festival takes place on the sports fields on the south of Onondaga Lake Park. There will be traditional singing and dancing with traditional Haudenosaunee foods and speakers. This event will be educational and entertaining for the whole family.

There are several exciting events taking place at the same time:

• Wooden Stick Festival (9:00am-5:00pm)

• Rand Hall Masters Wooden Stick Lacrosse Tournament (9:00am-4:00pm)

The Haudenosaunee (Called “Iroquois” by colonists) are the originators and keepers of the game known today as “lacrosse.” Deyhontsigwa’ehs (“They Bump Hips,” in the Onondaga Language) goes back millennia and is also known as “The Creator’s Game” and the “Medicine Game” The Onondaga Nation is the “Central Fire” of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of six nations (Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora). The Haudenosaunee Confederacy was founded on the shore of Onondaga Lake––now called Syracuse, NY. Over 1000 years ago. Deyhontsigwa’ehs played an integral role in establishing “The Great Law of Peace.” Today throughout Haudenosaunee territory the “Medicine Game” is still played in ceremony. We are dedicated to re-establishing a Haudenosaunee presence back at Onondaga Lake where this game was originally played.

Our Sponsors.

Contact info@indigenousvalues.org to be a sponsor of this event.

Our Collaborative Spirit.

The Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival is a collaboration between the American Indian Law Alliance and the Indigenous Values Initiative. We are proud to collaborate with one another on such an important event. One of the many lessons we can all learn from Deyhontsigwa’ehs (lacrosse) is the importance of collaboration and working together.

Second Annual Randy Hall Masters
Wooden Stick Lacrosse Tournament

There will be referees, a tent for changing, a box sized field marked out on the grass with 4×4 nets by Onondaga Lake. Players will be responsible for helmets and gloves, and wooden sticks. Teams will be responsible for their jerseys. Wooden sticks are preferred but not required.

• Prizes
  • First Prize: Leather Game Ball, trophy, $700 cash
  • Second Prize: Plaque, and $300 cash.
  • Third Prize: Plaque and $300 cash.
• The tournament registration fee:
  • $300 Early Bird registration per team until 3/31/2020
  • $400 Regular registration per team until 8/31/2020
  • $500 Walk-up per team until 9/28/19
• Individual registration for house team(s) (includes jersey and lunch)
  • Early Bird registration $75 per person until 3/31/2020
  • Regular registration $100 per person until 8/31/2020
  • Walk-up registration $125 per person until 9/28/2020

Get Involved

About Randy Hall

Thomas Randall “Randy” Hall, Akwesasne Mohawk Wolf Clan, passed away January 18, 2018. He served in Vietnam with US Army (1965-68) and participated in the 1972 AIM take-over of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C. He loved sports and was deeply involved with the Onondaga Athletic Club where he played and coached lacrosse and basketball. One of his favorite things to do was to travel and play in tournaments. In his memory, the Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival honors Randy by naming the wooden sticks tournament after him.

The inaugural Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival was held at Onondaga Lake in 2013. Previously the game had been played exclusively on Haudenosaunee Nation territories, but in 2013, Randy Hall asked Philip P. Arnold and Sandy Bigtree for help in bringing the game back to Onondaga Lake––its place of origin. It was here the Peacemaker arrived well over 1,000 years ago to bring peace to five warring nations. Few realize that Deyhontsigwa’ehs, the Creator’s Game, was an integral part of this peacemaking process. This ancient game is still played ceremonially among the Haudenosaunee. It is played hard, but always played to foster good relationships between human beings and the natural world.

#laxweekend20

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