Syracuse, N.Y. - The Onondaga Nation Snow Snake Team hosted a snow snake game this past weekend bringing together Native teams from around the state and northeast Canada. One of the leaders for the sport is Snooky Brooks of the Pinewoods Snow Snake Team from Cattaraugus Reservation, south of Buffalo. He says he's been playing snow snake for nearly three decades.
"Snow snake is my life, I use it as a tool to communicate with my brothers and other communities. I'm so glad for this sport. I love the comradery with the men. It just makes for one fun day."
According to the Iroquois oral tradition, the game of snow snake dates back more than 500 years, to before the arrival of Europeans in North America. Originally a form of communication between villages, the throwing of "snow snakes" in a trough of snow or track developed into a competitive sport during long winters when the long track was not used for communication. The name "snow snake" is said to have come from the serpentine wiggling motion of the poles as they slide down the icy track.