Joe White
Object: a "Martin's Special" lacrosse stick, used in the 1956 Mann Cup series, belonging to Joe White Sr. from the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
Use: for catching and throwing lacrosse balls
Era: 1950s
Materials: wood, likely hickory; leather or sinew; tape; other unknown materials; made in Canada.
Size/ Dimensions: length from tip to head: 109 centimetres (43 inches), head width: 16 centimetres (6.25 inches), shaft thickness: 2 centimetres (0.75 inches)
Current Location: Joe White's Nanaimo home.
As a rookie lacrosse player in 1956, Joe White of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, played for the Nanaimo Timbermen Senior Men's A team. That year, the Timbermen won the coveted Mann Cup, the highest honour in Canadian senior men's box lacrosse. They were the first Western team to win the cup. The victorious Timbermen returned to a hero's welcome in Nanaimo, complete with a parade and medals from the city.
Lacrosse is a fast-paced game of skill and athleticism that is played between two teams. The two main forms of lacrosse are box and field. The main pieces of equipment in both games are two nets, one ball and lacrosse sticks for each player. The object of the game is to put the ball into the opposing team's goal. Lacrosse goals are similar to enclosed mesh hockey nets. As in soccer and hockey, there are various offensive and defensive positions as well as a goalie on each team.
Field lacrosse is played outside on a large field. Men and boys teams play with ten players on each team; women and girls play with twelve. Box lacrosse is played with six players on each team. Box lacrosse can be played indoors or out. Indoors, the game is played in hockey arenas with the ice removed. Outdoors, lacrosse boxes are built especially for the game. In Canada, the most popular form of lacrosse for boys and men is box lacrosse. For girls and women, it is field lacrosse.
There are many levels of lacrosse play depending on age, experience, skill level and lacrosse organizations. For example, in British Columbia there is no contact in lacrosse games for young children and women's field lacrosse. The amount and type of equipment required varies, but all players wear protective equipment such as helmets and gloves to shield their bodies. Older ages and higher skill levels use extra protection such as kidney and back protectors.
Retired Snuneymuxw lacrosse player Jerry Brown remembers his old lacrosse equipment:
"We just had old kidney pads, old shoulder pads, hardly any padding on there, so we added our own pads. Like, Foster Johnny had a life jacket for kidney pads! We used to laugh about that. And I had an old hockey shin pad for my shoulder pads. I sewed it on my old pads. I was tired of getting hurt, hit in the arms. So we all had our own fabricated pads, they weren't as good as now-a-days, pretty old."(From an interview with Amber Johnny).