Daily Archives: June 26, 2007

The short story is:

Fort Michilimackinac was at the center of the vast Great Lakes fur trade in 1763, when Native American dissatisfaction with the British erupted in a series of attacks—including the siege of Fort Detroit —called Pontiac's Rebellion. At Michilimackinac, local Ojibwa staged a game of baggatiway, or lacrosse, near the fort's gate. Warriors who chased an errant ball into the fort suddenly drew knives and tomahawks and took the fort by force.

Last week we were there and several times a day there was a game of baggatiway - fort employees (reenactors) invited visitors to join in. This is quite an amazing game - there are very few rules, people got killed, there was no limit to the number of players or the size of the field. There are recorded games (according to the guide) of games including over a thousand players, with a field 15 miles long.

I just thought this was a cool photo of Tom (and one of Manda below - I think she thought the ball was going to hit her)