Free Hybrid Program
Location: Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Audrey Jacob, Tribal Member, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Team Member, Tvshka Homma Ohoyo
Bailey Brown, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma & Cherokee Nation; Team Member, Oakhill Community and Tiak Hikiya
Iysiahs Manny York, Tribal Member, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Harvard College Student
Moderated by James Walkingstick, Academic Engagement Coordinator, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology; Team Member and Stick Maker, Harvard Stickball
Stickball is one of the oldest team sports in the world and has been played by Native American tribes for centuries. Historically, the game was used as a diplomatic tool. Instead of going to war, Native American tribes played stickball to settle large disputes. This earned the game the nickname The Little Brother of War. Once outlawed and threatened, stickball has persisted and is still played by many today at both local and World Series levels, and even by students and staff across Harvard. Join contemporary players and stick makers as they discuss reclamation of traditional stick making, game play, and community building.
Advance registration recommended for online and in-person attendance.
Free admission. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5:00 pm.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture in collaboration with Harvard University Native American Program and the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights
About the Participants
James Walkingstick serves as the academic engagement coordinator for the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. James, born and raised in the Cherokee Nation Reservation, is the recipient of the Sally Falk Moore Prize in Public Service for his Harvard undergraduate research on the impact of mining pollution on his home in Grand Lake, Oklahoma. He began making sticks and playing stickball on campus in 2025.
Bailey Brown is a Cherokee/Choctaw stickball stick and ball maker from Grand Lake, Oklahoma. He takes pride in ensuring that this ancient ball game, stick-making traditions, and its related culture never go dormant. He plays stickball with the Oakhill Community, recently highlighted by Osiyo TV, and competed this summer with the team Tiak Hikiya in the Stickball World Series in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He is devoted to “passing it forward to the next 7 generations, like it’s been done for millennia by our ancestors.”
Iysiahs Manny York is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. He is an undergraduate at Harvard College concentrating in Applied Mathematics.
Audrey L. Jacob is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, raised on the reservation in Tribal District 8, Choctaw County, Oklahoma. She has played stickball since 2017, when the Nation organized its first women’s team to compete in the Annual World Series of Stickball tournament hosted by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. As a defender, she helps her team protect the pole.
Related Event
Stickball Game with MBCI World Series Players Bailey Brown and Audrey Jacob
Friday, November 14, 1:00 pm–3:00 pm
Tercentenary Theater, in front of Widener Library
Open to the public, no experience required, sticks provided
