Lacrosse arena is new battlefield in Iroquois Native Americans’ fight for recognition of sovereignty as place in 2022 World Games beckons
- The Iroquois Nationals men’s team, whose ancestors originated the sport, are trying to convince World Games organisers to include them in the 2022 event
- Hong Kong and China are among the members supporting their bid, with lacrosse having deep spiritual importance for the Haudenosaunee people
They say an Iroquois male is born with a lacrosse stick in his hand. Most eyes are deceived but the stick is plain to see for those with a strong sense of what it means to be Iroquois – their hearts steeped in the culture and history of the ancient game they originated.
The stick is carried through childhood, sometimes taking the physical form of hickory wood and deer sinew. It is held close to the chest as a symbol of Haudenosaunee heritage, wielded with ferocity in the heat of the battle, and passed on to the world selflessly as a gesture of peace and a reminder of its provenance.
The Iroquois, like many of the world’s indigenous people who have been depopulated, scattered and marginalised through colonisation, have long been fighting to uphold their sovereign rights – a battle that has now spilled on to the lacrosse field.
The Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team, comprising players from the Six Nations that make up the Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee, confederacy in the north east of North America, are so far missing from the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, despite being among the top three teams in the world and boasting some of the sport’s best players.
World Games organisers originally only invited nations who were members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which the Iroquois hope to one day be a part of.