The Cherokee Ball Game

By Lowell Kirk

When the long, hot days of dry, dusty summer begin to give way to the cool, crisp, colorful days of autumn, “Footballmania” sweeps through the American landscape like a wildfire rushing up a mountainside.

All across the United States, excitement for the game consumes Little League moms and pops. Friday nights are filled with local civic pride for high school games. Saturdays bring us festivities, ceremonies and tail-gate parties on college campuses. On Sundays millions of Americans focus on professional teams and many continue the “mania” with Monday Night Football. Millions of us have an obsession for the “ball game.” It is as American as apple pie and motherhood.

However, many centuries before the hoards of European invaders came flooding to America upon the heels of Christopher Columbus, for the original Americans, the ball game was as American as cornbread, beans, pumpkins and pristine rivers. The Cherokee, and all other Native American tribes, were just as obsessed with the ballgame as any present day weekend warrior. The Cherokee name for the ball game was “anetsa.” It meant, “little brother of war.” Much of the village pride depended upon winning ball games with rivals. Great players were sought after in much the same manner as Peyton Manning and many concessions were made by villages to obtain them. And the Indian ball game was a far more dangerous game than football. The entire village turned out for a ball game. Large wagers were made. The Cherokee once won an entire Creek village in Georgia by winning a ball game.

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