Members of the University Toli team traveled to a Choctaw Indian reservation in Mississippi and took on their hosts in a game.
A Flying Rats player bloodies his toe during a toli match.
Jason Coombs mends one of his hickory sticks on the Conehatta field.
Danny Geiger, a member of the Flying Rats carries the towa - a rock, covered in cloth and laced in leather - during practice.
Frank Williamson, the Connehatta drummer, plays during the Toli game.
Choctaw spectators watch as the second half picks up speed.
THE GOOD OF A GAME: Toli team travels to Indian reservation (w/video)
By: DANIELLE MOORE AND LESLEY ONSTOTT
Posted: 4/15/09
In the wee hours of a still Mississippi night, a dozen silhouettes warm themselves around a glowing bonfire. But the starry calm is deceiving, as a playful banter rises with the thick smoke, drowning out the crackling of the logs.
Choctaw Indians and University students are exchanging gibes in preparation for tomorrow's Kapucha Toli game. The taunting is presumably in fun, thrown about in Choctaw and English, although only one Georgia team member, Dee Fraker understands the two languages.
Fraker was gradually adopted into Choctaw families since his first trip to the Conehatta reservation in central Mississippi in 1990. Over the nearly two decades that followed, he developed a familial relationship that grew out of a shared past.
"Living a life, growing up in the ghetto, it's just like [Choctaw families'] life here," Fraker said. "When I'm here, I'm home."
A second-generation member of the University's club Toli team, his first trip to the reservation came two years after the team's inception. Founder Greg Keyes, who learned the game growing up near a reservation in Meridian, Miss., brought the original seven members to the reservation - or "the rez"- to experience an authentic Toli game. These first meetings were difficult, but the Flying Rats proved to be formidable opponents.
"At first it was a pretty rough start. The first few games for a few years was about earning respect to be able to play," said Mary House, a University junior and co-captain. "When we first started the game, we were strangers imposing foreign ideas on their game, one of the things that truly lasted for so long in their culture."
Kapucha Toli, or stickball, is the progenitor of lacrosse.
It began more than 400 years ago as a way to settle disputes between tribal communities in place of war.
Although less violent than before, "little brother of war," as it is called, remains a battle. Without boundaries, many rules or pads, it is extremely aggressive.
The 30 players on each team work together to score points by hitting one of the two goalposts located on either end of the 100-yard field with the ball.
The towa, about the size of a golf ball, must be thrown against the pole or carried to it by a kapucha, two hickory sticks with leather baskets on the ends.
The latter method is strongly discouraged, as it often results in injury rather than a point. A major slight to the other team, the Choctaw are relentless in bringing down the ball carrier.
"When you score, you get that rush," said Debrent John, a 20-year-old Choctaw who has played Toli since he was 7.
"[Toli] represents our pride because we still retain that traditional way of playing," he said. "Other tribes, they lost their culture. But us, somehow, we've still retained it. Around here, playing Toli is kind of a right of passage. You're like a warrior."
After 18 years of playing, Fraker agrees. "Everyone on the rez understands that it is literally their one thing. It is the only thing that is unique to them that is left," he said.
"They can say this is ours, no one else does this. This is us, this is our identity. It's like they were born with sticks in their hands."
The link that binds two cultures
Truckloads of families surround the field to watch the annual spring match between the UGA Flying Rats and the Conehatta Skunks.
Conehatta Coach Hugh King tosses the ball high above a huddle of players from both sides, and their stickball season gets underway.
In the full heat of the afternoon, red dust billows as bare feet scurry for possession of the towa.
A Civil War-era drum beats to the rhythm of the game.
Exchanging hits for four fast-paced, 15-minute quarters, the Flying Rats, who rounded out their 10-person team with willing Choctaw, come out on top, despite broken bones and bloody toes.
"As far as playing goes, it's always a little frightening when you go out there," said Jason Coombs, a two-year member of the Flying Rats. "One thing I really have learned is to sort of put that aside. It usually takes the first half of the game to really do that - you realize, 'alright, if you're gonna get hurt, it's not gonna be that bad.'"
Although injuries occur, battle scars are a point of pride.
Hits are exchanged on the field, but a more important exchange occurs over the course of the weekend.
"If you look at them, that's one thing they don't show - any hesitation or any fear. It's one thing I really try to mimic. I know if I'm going after someone who's bigger than me, I'm still going to be an obstacle and contribute," Coombs said.
The value of this weekend is apparent to the Conehatta elders as well.
Every year, they meet and decide whether the Flying Rats will be welcome to compete against the Conehatta.
They continue to approve.
"They share our passion for the game, you know" John said reflecting on the weekend.
Toli, many members agree, is the link that binds two cultures.
"The opportunity to talk to people who are so different but similar.
And being able to hear a language that is spoken in a very remote area, to be able to listen to their music, eat their food and likewise being able to share our music, our food, our culture with them," Coombs said. "That's just something I enjoy."
Although it's been in their culture for hundreds of years, the Choctaw appreciate anyone with the desire to learn.
"I love the fact that the team is welcoming to anyone. Everyone that comes to UGA has never heard of Toli, and everyone is playing for the first time ... and the Choctaw know that too. They made the game, it's their game. So playing with the people who made the game, it's definitely worth the energy and time to get out there. You're playing with the actual tribe that created that on their land."
