Restore Our Sacred Lake 5K
We follow the Thanksgiving Address by protecting Mother Earth. The eagle has returned to Onondaga Lake for the first time in over 200 years. We invite runners and walkers to come to Onondaga Lake for a day of celebration. This event will raise awareness of the importance of the lake and the urgency of furthering the cleanup efforts.
Race Details
- Race begins at Onondaga Lake Wegman’s Park
- Registration will begin at 7:00 a.m.
- Race begins at 8:00 a.m.
- Cost: Free
- Contact us
- Please join us for the Wooden Stick Festival immediately following
Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival
& Randy Hall Masters Wood Stick Lacrosse
Come and Play where Lacrosse Originated
Deyhontsigwa’ehs: The Creator’s Game, Lacrosse Weekend 2024
Onondaga Lake Park, 106 Lake Dr, Liverpool, NY 13088, located in the heart of Onondaga Nation Territory
6th Annual Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival
(10:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
The festival will take at Onondaga Lake Park, just 5 miles north of the Onondaga Nation. This event will be educational and entertaining for the whole family.
Please look forward to these events:
- Traditional Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Making Demonstrations throughout the weekend
- The Randy Hall Masters Tournament will run the entire weekend.
- Smoke Dance Competition and Demonstration
- Traditional Haudenosaunee foods and crafters
All sponsors, vendors, lacrosse teams, and lacrosse players must submit a signed hold harmless agreement to the American Indian Law Alliance by email or mail.
Food and craft vendor spaces are sold out. Team registration is now closed.
House Team Registration Hold Harmless (PDF)Smoke Dance Details
Team and Vendor Fees
Vendor Payment Team PaymentBackground to the event
The Haudenosaunee (Called “Iroquois” by colonists) are the originators and keepers of the game known today as “lacrosse.” Deyhontsigwa’ehs (“They Bump Hips,” in the Onondaga Language) goes back millennia and is also known as “The Creator’s Game” and the “Medicine Game” The Onondaga Nation is the “Central Fire” of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of six nations (Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora). The Haudenosaunee Confederacy originated on the shore of Onondaga Lake––now called Syracuse, NY. Over 1000 years ago, Deyhontsigwa’ehs had an integral role in establishing “The Great Law of Peace.” Today, throughout Haudenosaunee territories, the “Medicine Game” is still played in ceremony. We are dedicated and committed to re-establishing a Haudenosaunee presence here at Onondaga Lake where Deyhontsigwa’ehs was originally played.
Our Collaborative Spirit.
The Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival is a collaboration between the American Indian Law Alliance and the Indigenous Values Initiative. We have always been proud to collaborate on such an important event. One of the many lessons that we can all learn from Deyhontsigwa’ehs (lacrosse) is the importance of collaboration and working together. This year, the American Indian Law Alliance is taking the lead on the Wooden Stick Festival and letting our dear friends at the Indigenous Values Initiative get some well-deserved rest.
Our Sponsors
Special thanks to our Sponsors:
Fourth Annual Randy Hall Masters Wooden Stick Lacrosse Tournament
There will be referees, a tent for changing, and a box-sized field marked out on the grass with 4×4 nets by Onondaga Lake. Players will be responsible for helmets, gloves, and wooden sticks. Teams will be responsible for their jerseys. Wooden sticks are preferred but not required.
- Prizes
- First Prize: Leather Game Ball, trophy, cash
- Second Prize: Plaque, and cash.
- Third Prize: a Plaque.
- The tournament registration fee is $300
- Individual registration for house team(s) (includes jersey and lunch): $100
Tournament Rules
Rules Overview
- Two – 20 min running halves (unless agreed upon differently by both teams)
- 5-minute warm-up and half time
- Shots out of bounds will be deemed a turnover
- All penalties are 1 minute and start when the player is seated in the box (released on goals)
- 3 wooden sticks must be on the field at all times per team (not including goalies) if there are NOT at least 3, then a 1 min delay of game penalty will be assessed
- Stick checking is allowed but ON BALL ONLY (otherwise it’s a 1 min slashing penalty)
- Over and back is in effect once you cross into your attacking half designated by lines on the field
- There is no shot clock, but there is a failure to advance call which is designated by the officials (which is a turnover)
- The game clock, game sheet, penalties, and scoreboard will be kept at the scorer’s table
- Seeding for the finals will be based on: Head to Head, Goals Scored, and Goals Against
RULES PDF
Get Involved
- Volunteer
- Food Vendor – We are Full on Food Vendors
- Craft Vendor
- Team Registration
- Individual House Team Registration
- Be a Sponsor
About Randy Hall
Thomas Randall “Randy” Hall, Akwesasne Mohawk Wolf Clan, passed away on January 18, 2018. He served in Vietnam with the US Army (1965-68) and participated in the 1972 AIM take-over of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. He loved sports and was deeply involved with the Onondaga Athletic Club, where he played and coached lacrosse and basketball. One of Randy’s favorite things to do was to travel and play in tournaments. In his memory, the Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival honors Randy by naming the Wooden Stick tournament after him. The inaugural Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival was held at Onondaga Lake in 2013. Previously, the game was only played exclusively on Haudenosaunee Nation territories. So in 2013, Randy Hall asked Philip P. Arnold and Sandy Bigtree for help to bring the game back to Onondaga Lake––its place of origin. The Peacemaker arrived at Onondaga Lake well over 1,000 years ago to bring peace to five warring nations. Few realize that Deyhontsigwa’ehs, the Creator’s Game, was an integral part of this peacemaking process. This ancient game is still played ceremonially among the Haudenosaunee. It is played hard, but always played to foster good relationships between human beings and the natural world.
Hotels
A Note from Hampton Inn: there are discounts avi
Hampton Inn Syracuse Clay Booking Link
Wooden Stick Festival (hilton.com)
Hampton Inn & Suites Carrier Circle Booking Link
Wooden Stick Festival (hilton.com)
#laxweekend
