How Lacrosse Came to the Haudenosaunee

The story of the Creator’s game is told through an award-winning cradleboard.

The Hemlocks' cradleboard pays tribute to the Iroquois Nationals and the legacy of Lacrosse.

Cradleboard images courtesy of nadelbachphoto.com and SWAIA

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For now, the cradleboard that tells the story of the Creator’s game remains in the Kahnawake home of the Mohawk couple who created it.

Hand carved and painted on one side by Donald “Babe” Hemlock, and sewn and beaded by his wife, Carla, on the other, the award-winning cradleboard’s designs show how lacrosse came to the Haudenosaunee, its place in settling disputes for centuries, and the way the Iroquois Nationals, a professional lacrosse team, assert tribal sovereignty through their prominence in the sport on the international scene.

Like belts woven with patterns of wampum, the cradleboard is aesthetically beautiful, documents an important story, and is functional, meaning it can be used as a part of the life and culture of the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois people). “I can still hear some of the older ones give reminders that we should not become a ‘culture under glass.’ They would say if you make something, enjoy it, use it, pass it on and do not let it die,” Carla says.“Today, I still make functional work as well as work that will give a voice to an issue.”

The cradleboard fits both descriptions.

It also carries personal elements for the Hemlocks that have led them to keep the piece in the family for now: The beaded image of a newborn on the front side of the board was inspired by a photo of a baby in the family, and the theme of Native self-determination illustrated on the back ties into both a tribal and family story.

While other pieces the couple have created have been acquired by museums and private collectors, that won’t be the case for this cradleboard just yet. “Our family had an instant attachment to this board and asked us to hang onto it for a while,” Carla says. “Where it will end up, we do not know.”…

The cradleboard, titled “Continuing the Legacy,” has garnered awards at both the Santa Fe Indian Market (Best in Division and Best in Class for Diverse Arts in 2013) and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market (two judges’ awards and Best of Division recognition in 2014). This coming winter, it will be showcased in the Heard’s upcoming exhibit Beautiful Games: American Indian Sport and Art, where it will appear on loan starting in December.

“It shows a continuum of sport and the reverence a community has toward what is now called sport but originally had many ritual and ceremonial overtones,” says Marcus Monenerkit (Comanche), the assistant curator at the Heard Museum who will oversee Beautiful Games. “The front of the cradleboard exemplifies how important lacrosse is to the Haudenosaunee …. The back of the cradleboard is a carving, which depicts early games and details the movement of the game through time.”

Gallery: win 1st senior field medal, top for bronze |

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