Lacrosse in the Economic and Social Life of the Kanien’kehá:ka Community of Kahnawà:ke in the Late Nineteenth Century

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the Kanien’kehá:ka community of Kahnawà:ke was strained by several intersecting economic, social, and political tensions. Drawing on recent scholarship and a variety of primary source materials, this article examines these tensions and considers lacrosse as a source of economic opportunity and social capital that enabled Kahnawa’kehró:non to cope with these strains and maintain the economic and social fabric of their community.