Choctaw Stickball

Image: YouTube, Warrior Games

The new Marvel show Echo centres around the main character Maya who is of Native American heritage and can tap into an ancient power through her ancestral lineage. The story includes flashback scenes along that lineage and at the start of episode 2, the fascinating sport of Choctaw Stickball is portrayed. Stickball survives today as an ultra-physical game of 60 players, based on the ancient version of the sport that was nick-named the little brother of war, when it was used to settle disputes between tribes. The sport has similarities to hurling, but appears to be even more violent! Steve Sxwithul’txw has a great video describing stickball, its history, and its modern day place in Choctaw culture.

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