According to “Osage News,” The team was made of people from 14 different tribes but was mainly made up of players from the Haskell Institute, a famous Indian school. The Majority of the players were from the Osage tribe, because the base of the team was in Hominy, Oklahoma. Shoemaker stated, In the early years of the Hominy Indians team they played games against regional teams such as Coffeyville, Elk city, and Fredonia in Kansas; Avant, Bartlesville and Fairfax in Oklahoma, and Sarcoxie and Joplin in Missouri. The Indians had a significant rivalry against another nearby Osage Football team located within the Osage Reservation, Fairfax. Like other members of the Osage Nation the Osages who lived in the settlement of Fairfax were wealthy due to oil revenue produced on Osage land. They loved the game of football and their wealth gave them the needed resources to start a "team". They lacked an organized club so in turn they would import local college players under assumed names to play in home games against the Hominy Indians. These local games pushed for the construction of a new stadium at the renowned Indian school in Lawrence, Kansas, the Haskell Institute. The Hominy Indians quickly rose to fame as they defeated other teams throughout the country. The Indians had never been defeated or even tied with another team as they entered into the biggest game of their existence against the champions of the National Football League, the New York Giants. One day after Christmas in 1927, three weeks after the Giants defeated the New York Rangers for their national title, the Giants traveled to Pawhuska, Oklahoma to face the dominating Indians. The Hominy Indians defeated the Giants by a score of 13-6 in front of what was said to be about 2,000 fans. At the start of the teams’ career in 1923, the Indians were very successful. The only drawback the team faced was the lack of resources for traveling and equipment. This financial burden was short lived when in 1925, the team received sponsorship from four Hominy Osage members. Dick Rusk, Harry Bigeagle, Allison Webb, and Ed LaBelle gave much needed financial support that provided the team with uniform and travel expenses. The salary for a Hominy Indian player rarely ever rose above $150 per game and there are many instances when it dropped below that average. At times, all proceeds from the games would go to ensure that the players were compensated. Hamilton, the founder of the Indians, resigned from his duties in order to take on the role of playing left guard for the team.