Check out buzzer beater, full-court shot by team captain @suits20 in last night’s Swarm home-opener. Suck it, Bandits. Cheap shots and sucker punches don’t make you guys winners.

Katie, Jesse and I made our way to the Xcel Center tonight to watch the Minnesota Swarm take on the Buffalo Bandits. And to rep the Cherokee Nation for Native American Heritage Night with the Swarm.

This had to be one of the best lax games I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of lacrosse games over the years. Highlights of the night were captain Andrew Suitor’s full-court shot at the buzzer to score a goal in an empty Buffalo net, as well as the phenomenal play of rookie goalie Tyler Carlson.

Final score was 19-11 Minnesota, for the first home victory over the Bandits in franchise history.

Our view from Section 213, aka The Eagle's Nest

Swarm fans represent!

Laurie, Jesse, Allie and I went to the Minnesota Timberwolves game Sunday evening to watch the locals play the Golden State (no longer Indian) Warriors. The Wolves eked out a victory in what can only be described as a defensive showdown (heh.)

The girls and I caught the first half of the National Lacrosse League AllStar Game with Minnesota Swarm players, cheerleaders and front office staff at Cork’s Irish Pub in St. Paul, then had to dash to Bloomington to meet Laurie and the rest of our group (@sank, brother Masons and families) and catch the train into Minneapolis. We had a blast, but missed the end of a hellaciously high-scoring NLL AllStar Game. Oh well.

On the eve of the Minnesota Swarm’s second home game of the season (vs. the Edmonton Rush at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Xcel Center), my tribal paper’s weekly email newsletter included the following cultural tidbit:

Traditional Religious Beliefs of the Cherokee

A-ne-jo-di, or Stickball, is a very rough game played by not only the Cherokee, but many other Southeastern Woodland tribes including the Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, and others.

The game resembles the modern European game of LaCrosse, using ball sticks which are handmade from hickory. A small ball, made of deer hair and hide, is tossed into the air by the medicine man. The male players use a pair of the sticks, and female players use the bare hands. In earlier times, only the men with the greatest athletic ability played the game. The game was oftentimes played to settle disputes, and the conjurer for each team often became as important to the team as the players themselves.

Seven points are scored when the ball strikes a wooden fish on the top of a pole approximately 25 feet in height, and two points are awarded when the ball strikes the pole.

In earlier days, there would be a dance before the ballgame. The ballplayers were the participants of the dance, along with seven women dancers. Each woman represented one of the clans. Throughout the dance, the women would step on black beads which represented the players of the opposing team. The conjurer had placed these black beads on a large flat rock. Today, stickball is an important part of the days activities at ceremonial Stomp Grounds, being necessary to play before the Stomp Dance can ever begin. It is also a recreational sport at other times between community teams. There are also intertribal teams made up of players from Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Yuchi, Natchez, and other area communities.

It’s always good to know your history and the origins of the pastimes you enjoy. Look for us at the Swarm game — we’ll be in our usual seats on the glass next to the home penalty box. Click here for tickets. Tell ‘em Art sent you.

The video above was shot during my trip with Jesse to the Cherokee National Holiday last fall. I told Jesse I would play in the men’s game this year. We’ll see. Now that I’m an elder, I might have an excuse…

Here is video from the traditional lacrosse exhibition game from the Minnesota Swarm home opener, which was also American Indian Heritage Night. The Oneida Warriors from Green Bay, led by Killebrew VanDyke, traveled to St. Paul for the second consecutive year to show the home crowd how the traditional game is played. The TV announcer struggles with his pronunciation of several words (pidamaye and Menominee were especially butchered) and with his historical facts about the game, but I salute the Swarm for recognizing and honoring the origins of anetsodi and for their continued efforts to make real connections with the Minnesota American Indian community.

Here are the girls last night, outside the Xcel Arena in St. Paul. Unfortunately, the Swarm lost to Rochester in OT. We were impressed with the play of several of the new players — Giles, Suitor and Smith — and were happy to have Travis Hill back on defense. Can’t wait for Jan. 22!

Jesse and I spent Sunday night and all day Monday at the Fond du Lac reservation near Duluth for a lacrosse camp put on by the Minnesota Swarm, the Native American Law Enforcement Summit and the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe. I was there to write about the camp and to take some pictures for The Circle newspaper and several other native publications on behalf of the Swarm. Jesse was there to hang out with the other native youth and her favorite all time lax player, the great Travis Hill. We had to rush back to The Cities late Monday afternoon, me for a school board meeting and Jesse for lacrosse playoffs (Eastview B beat Burnsville 6-4 to start the tourney — go, Lightning!)

Below are some pix from the camp. I’ll post links to the story when it’s done.