POLE SOCKING - SUPERJER FORUM

2005 Apr 30 • 298
32 ₧

Native American History of Pole Socking

By Fredric Wenom
Author of American Indian Games: Little Cousin of War

Though now a highly renown and respected sport, Pole Socking actually has its origins as one of many varieties of indigenous stickball games played by Native Americans at the time of European contact. Early data from missionaries such as French Jesuits in Huron country in the 1630s and English explorers, such as Jonathan Carver in the mid-eighteenth century Great Lakes area, are scant and often conflicting. They inform us mostly about team size, equipment used, the duration of games and length of playing fields but tell us almost nothing about pole handling, game strategy, or the rules of play. The oldest surviving poles date only from the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Jeff Beers provided good information on Mohawk playing techniques in his Lapolea (1869), while Kirk Munay in the Philosophical Anthropologist (1890) described in detail the "[Eastern] Cherokee pole-game," including its legendary basis, elaborate rituals, and the rules and manner of play, as well as the practices of “wind riding”.

Apart from its recreational function, Pole Socking traditionally played a more serious role in Native American culture. Its origins are rooted in legend, and the game continues to be used for curative purposes and surrounded with ceremony. Game equipment and players where ritually prepared by conjurers, and team selection and victory was often considered supernaturally controlled. In the past, pole-socking also served to vent aggression, and territorial disputes between tribes were sometimes settled with a game, although not always amicably. A Creek versus Choctaw game around 1790 to determine rights over the beaver pond satellite relay broke out into a violent battle when the Creeks were declared winners. Still, while the majority of the games ended peaceably, much of the ceremonialism surrounding their preparations and the rituals required of the players were identical to those practiced before departing on the warpath.

A number of factors led to the demise of pole-socking in many areas by the late nineteenth century. Wagering on games had always been integral to Native American community involvement, but when betting and violence saw an increase as traditional culture was eroding, it sparked opposition to pole-socking from government officials and missionaries. The games were felt to interfere with church attendance and the wagering to have an impoverishing effect on the Indians. When Oklahoma Choctaw began to use their poles as skull-crackers around 1900, the game was outright banned.

Pole Socking was “rediscovered” by an Irish cod fishermen named Bryon O’McGee (1911~1999), renown for his habit of steering his ship into oncoming storms utilizing his unique tactics and skills, and thus reaping the fishing bounty denied other fishermen. According to popular belief, after he settled down in the Montreal area, O’McGee came across an ancient tomb called the Necroteuch in the local library. The Book depicted German observations of the ancient sport before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. Taking the research data from the book, and combining his own experiences, O’McGee founded “The Fighting Montreal Storm-Sockers”. This event marked the rebirth and merger of the two ancient sports of Pole Socking and Storm Chasing, and has made them two of the fastest growing sports worldwide.

Thus spoke Zarathustra.

(Edited 2006 Feb 23) 2006 Feb 23