In Choctaw Stickball, "Opposing teams use handcrafted sticks, or kabocca, and a woven leather ball, or towa.

"[3] Several Native American tribes such as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, Seminole and Yuchi play the sport.

[4] Although the first recorded writing on the topic of stickball was not until the mid-18th century,[citation needed] there is evidence that the game had been developed and played hundreds of years before that.

The games were played in open plains located between the two villages, and the goals could range from 500 yards (460 m) to several miles apart.

[citation needed] The game began with the ball being tossed into the air and the two sides rushing to catch it.

Medicine men acted as coaches, and the women of the tribe were usually limited to serving refreshments to the players and betting on the sidelines.

The game was not only used as a way to settle disputes and grievances among the many tribes but was also played to toughen young warriors for combat, for recreation, as part of festivals, and for the bets involved.

Often before the game was even played terms would be set and agreed upon and the losing team would have no choice but to accept the outcome.

In the mid-17th century, a Jesuit missionary named Jean de Brébeuf was the first to write about the Native American game after witnessing Wyandot people play.

[citation needed] In 1763, the Ottawa tribe used a game of stickball to gain entrance into Fort Mackinac.

While the soldiers enjoyed the festivities and entertainment, the Ottawa players moved close enough to rush the fort and massacre them.

The men will suffer some sort of penalty or disqualification for being too aggressive towards female players, but the women have no such restrictions on their methods of playing.

The night before the game was to be played a tribal ball dance was held in which most of the community would take part.

The dances consisted of conjuring ceremonies and spiritual songs and practices that were believed to bring good luck to the team.

The players wore ceremonial regalia, sacrifices were held, and sacred expressions were yelled to intimidate opponents.

[11] In the summer of 1892, we were near Keokuk Falls on North Canadian River and we learned that a ball game was to be staged between the Tulsa and the Theowalthioa Indians so we waited and watched their preparations.

They did not eat and slept little, doing everything in their power to work themselves into a fury of hate and rage - to make themselves fierce and mean was their object.

As Soon as a player was knocked out, the squaws would carry him off the field, to a pool of water nearby where they would wash his wounds and restore him to consciousness, if possible.

The battle was so fierce, that when the game was ended and one side had been chased from the ground, the pool was perfectly bloody.

The wood is thinned at one end and bent around and attached to the handle to form a loop that is bound with leather or electrical tape.

In the Southwestern United States a double-stick version was played with sticks about two and a half feet long.