"Lacrosse has been a central element of Indigenous cultures for centuries, but once non-Indigenous players entered the sport, it became a site of appropriation - then reclamation - of Indigenous identities. The Creator's Game focuses on the history of lacrosse in Indigenous communities from the 1860s to the 1990s, exploring Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations and Indigenous identity formation. While the game was being appropriated in the process of constructing a new identity for the nation-state of Canada, it was also being used by Indigenous peoples to resist residential school experiences, initiate pan-Indigenous political mobilization, and articulate Indigenous sovereignty. This engaging and innovative book provides a unique view of Indigenous self-determination and nationhood in the face of settler-colonialism."--Page 4 of cover.

Prologe: the creator's game -- Introduction: a trickster history of lacrosse -- The Canadian appropriation of lacrosse and "Indian" performances -- Colonizing the ctreator's game in residential schools -- Articulating indigenous nationhood on the West Coast -- Box lacrosse and redefining political activism during the mid-twentieth century -- Reclaiming the creator's game -- Conclusion: a trickster ending.