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This paper began as a presentation for the 2011 Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration and its focus on literature and films about sports in the South. Such a conference would not have been complete without mention of the athletic games played by the native people of the Southeast. From a literary standpoint, some of the earliest colonial narratives describe American Indian sporting activities and, as this essay attests, scholars continue to examine these truly American games. Like all popular athletic events, the games of the American Indians reflect the social and spiritual lives of the communities in which they were played.
The earliest known account of American Indian sports in the Mississippi region comes from the Jesuit missionary Paul Du Ru, traveling with the expedition of Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville on the lower Mississippi River in February 1700:
We walked to the [Bayogoula] village where there were games and a great dance. The men play in pairs; one of them has a ball in his hand and throws it ahead. Both of them run as fast as they can, throwing a big stick after this ball and, as well as I can make out, the one whose stick is closest to the ball wins the play. Then the one who wins throws the ball the next time. This is a rather strenuous game; nevertheless, it is played by both old and young. The women have a game also. They separate into two parties between two large posts in the square. Somebody throws a little ball in the center, and the one who seizes it first tries her best to run around the post on her side three times, but she is prevented by the women of the opposite party who seize her if they can. When she can no longer resist them, she throws the ball to her people who make a similar effort to run around their post. Sometimes the ball falls into the hands of the other side, which then tries the same maneuver. The games are very long and ordinarily when they are over the women plunge into the water to refresh themselves. Sometimes the men play this game also. (Du Ru 21)
The Bayogoulas lived near the entrance to Bayou Lafourche on...