After seeing success in the tobacco industry, Curt Styres has turned his sights towards sports.

Styres, who is Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve in Canada, recently paid $5.5 million for a 60 percent controlling share of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League. He believes he is the first Native person to own a professional sports franchise.

Styres, 48, is also seeking to buy the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Styres played lacrosse and hockey in his youth. "Natives can use lacrosse as a steppingstone to better their future," he told The New York Times. A junior league he founded in 2002 has sent 15 players to college, including a rising star in New York.

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Blazing a Trail From a Reservation Into Ownership (The New York Times 7/16)
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