The Art of Making A Traditional Lacrosse Stick - A Demonstration with Alfie Jacques, Stickmaker

Everyone that plays lacrosse and enjoys watching this sport should know where the game came from. On Saturday, June 19, the Institute for American Indian Studies located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut, is hosting a traditional lacrosse stick-making demonstration with one of the few stick makers of his kind in the world, Alfie Jacques from the Onondaga Turtle Clan. Alfie has made more than 80,000 wooden sticks over the past fifty-plus years. 

There will be two outdoor in-person interactive sessions, the first at 1 p.m. and the second at 3:30 p.m. Alfi will discuss the traditional techniques used to make these sticks out of hickory that include steam bending, drying, shaping, hand-carving, weaving, and webbing. He will also explain the cultural and spiritual significance of the game. Pre-registration for this event is required and is available on the Institute's website and is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $11 for children, and $5 for members. 

Lacrosse originated with the Nations of the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee Confederacy, where it is known as the "Creators Game" or the "Medicine Game," because it promotes health and strength. Today, Lacrosse is enjoyed by many people throughout the world. Culturally, for Native Americans, this time-honored traditional game, played only with wooden sticks is entwined with Native American spiritual beliefs. 

Before mass-produced plastic lacrosse sticks, all sticks were made from wood. Alf Jacques of the Onondaga Nation Turtle Clan and world-class Lacross player who is in the Ontario Hall of Fame is one of the few remaining traditional Native American stick makers. He learned the craft of stick making from his father, the late Louis Jacques, Mohawk, and legendary lacrosse coach. Alfie has worked on perfecting the techniques he learned from his father for many years and still uses his father's knife, made in 1832. Each stick is made from a single piece of hickory wood that can take up to ten months to complete. Those that love the sport purchase most of Alfie’s sticks or are collectors, because wooden sticks are rarely used in today’s competitive games. Those that do use them consider wooden handcrafted lacrosse sticks the “soul of the game.”

Alfie is continuing a tradition for new generations of Native American lacrosse players, and his demonstration at the Institute offers a rare opportunity to understand the cultural heritage of lacrosse from a different perspective.