Toli: Sticks - Kapucha

The sticks used in Choctaw Toli are called kapucha and each player carries two. Each stick is 0.75-1.0 meters long and ends with a leather "basket" at one end. The basket is just a bit larger than the diameter of the ball (called the towa, making catching the ball nearly impossible.

 To make Toli sticks you must first start with the proper materials. The sticks are made out of hickory, not due to tradition, but due to a remarkable property of hickory wood. Hickory is strong and can be bent a great deal before breaking, and this is essential in stick making, but not just any hickory will due. The wood must come from a young (no more than 15-20 cm in diameter) tree with no bends or knots for at least 2.5 meters. Once a tree is selected, it should be cut (preferably using traditional techniques and stone tools of your own manufacture) and split into sections that are about 3 cm around. The bark is then removed and saved for later and the remaining wood is smoothed with a draw knife (again though, stone blades are preferred) and one end (about 60 cm) is thinned to about 5 mm. The thinned section is then bent back and around to the main body of the stick and anchored there with the bark (which has the consistency of good twine). Next a stake (0.5 cm in diameter) is placed in the ground and oil (traditional oils are again preferred) is heated up. Next, the bent end of the newly formed stick is plunged into the hot oil for a couple minutes, pulled out ,placed over the stake so the stake is firmly up against the tied section and the handle of the stick is pushed forward and up to about a 30 degree angle. This last step results in the basket flaring out to give the ball a little more room. Finally holes are drilled in the end and on each side of the basket and the basket is laced.

A few industrious Flying Rats have ventured into actually making sticks. Click here to see photos of the process.

 Alternatively, sticks can be purchased for $15-$80 on the Mississippi Choctaw Reservation, and The Flying Rat Team provides all necessary equipment to new players.