Master lacrosse stick maker Alfie Jacques, passes on tradition before dying
CBC
Master lacrosse stick maker Alfie Jacques died at 74 in June.
Jacques, Turtle Clan from Onondaga Nation Reserve in New York, was taught by his father — also a master woodcarver — to make lacrosse sticks at a young age.
Jacques had a few apprentices who dedicated themselves to the craft. Jack Johnson was one of them.
"It took me about six months for him to even talk to me," said Johsnon, "I had to keep calling and going down and kind of prove to him that I was really serious about it. And then, he finally said, 'Ok'," said Johnson of his desire to apprentice with Jacques.
Johnson, 44, from Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, apprenticed with Jacques for nearly a decade.
He said others had gone to Jacques to learn to make sticks but didn't follow through, and for a man in his 70s, Jacques' time was a precious resource not to be wasted.
Jacques was also a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer who played professional lacrosse in the 1960s and 70s.
"It was an honor to work with somebody that loved the craft, loved the game, you know, loved the spirit of it," said Johnson.
The wooden sticks Jacques made were cherished by the players who received them, like Trav Hill.
Hill was given his first wooden stick made by Jacques when he played for the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Nationals in the World Lacrosse Championships in Denver, Colorado back in 2014.
Hill said his traditional wooden stick is one of his most "prized possessions."
"It's up there with, pretty parallel to, even winning the NLL championship to own a stick by Alfie. And I felt that way even when he was alive," said Hill, who played in the National Lacrosse League with Rochester Knighhawks when they won the NLL Champions Cup in 2012.
Johnson said traditional lacrosse sticks take about 10 months to make and he, just like Jacques, does everything himself.
"I cut the trees. I break them down. I make the old style gut walls, rawhide, string the sticks. I do everything from start to finish," said Johnson.
