One Nation, Under Lacrosse
At the World Games, the Haudenosaunee Nationals stand as equals at last—in the sport that they invented.
Hardly anybody noticed, but history was made last night in Birmingham, Alabama. It came with flags and waves and cheers, and it will continue soon on the field. The history was first set in motion two years ago in Ireland—or one thousand years ago somewhere near the northeast American-Canadian border, depending on how you measure these types of things.
Last night, the Haudenosaunee Nationals, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, marched in the opening ceremonies of the World Games, a tournament that’s viewed as a testing ground for potential Olympic sports, under their own flag. The Haudenosaunee men and women’s lacrosse team will compete for gold, silver, and bronze over the coming weeks, and if all goes well, in 2028, they’ll be representing their people in the Olympics when lacrosse is included in the program for the first time in over a century.
Over 1,000 years ago, the Haudenosaunee invented the sport of lacrosse, which they call “the medicine game,” named because they believed the sport could heal the sick. To this day, if someone is seriously ill, the Haudenosaunee will organize a game in the sick person’s honor to help. All aspects of the sport come steeped in symbolism; the stick represents what grows from the Earth, the netting stands for deer and the way it’s weaved together is a nod to the way that the nation’s clans and families remain connected; the ball is viewed as the medicine itself.
A Haudenosaunee team has competed in international lacrosse tournaments since 1983, and they’re amongst the best squads in the world, ranked third. But when the IOC released the list of participants at the World Games two years ago, the Haudenosaunee were notably absent. IOC policy states that they’ll only allow a nation to compete if more than half of United Nation’s members recognize their sovereignty, a designation that doesn’t currently apply to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Lacrosse stars spoke out on social media; 50,000 fans signed a petition asking the World Games to reconsider.
Finally, the organizers backed off their position—sort of. They said that they’d allow the Haudenosaunee to compete, but all eight of the tournament’s spots were already filled. They couldn’t stage a tournament with an odd number of participants.
The Irish national team, ranked 12th in the world, had earned their spot at the World Games in a qualifying tournament. But as their players and coaches spoke of the World Games, they couldn’t imagine it happening without the group that invented lacrosse. “We support them, and if it means we’ll give up our spot, then so be it,” said one Irish player in 2020. “But the Iroquois, they need to be there.”
In a stunning display of sportsmanship, the Irish withdrew from the World Games. “It’s simply the right thing to do,” Michael Kennedy, an executive at Ireland Lacrosse, said at the time. The Haudenosaunee team replied in a statement, “I dteannta a chéile.” Together as one.
“Ireland’s national lacrosse team showcased the best of sportsmanship and the best of humanity,” said Nick Sellers, the CEO of the World Games. “Birmingham has long been an epicenter of America’s struggle for equality, and we are enormously proud that the World Games 2022 can remind us that our strength comes from mutual respect and a commitment to inclusion.”
The Haudenosaunee men play their first game this afternoon against Canada at 2 p.m. ET. You can stream it here. The women contest starts next week, with the Haudenosaunee facing England in their first game.
“The game has changed the way we view the world and how the world views us,” Leo Nolan, the team’s executive director, told National Geographic. “It’s helped people recognize who we are. You want that to continue.”
Hopefully, it will continue for a long, long time. I know what team I’ll be rooting for in 2028.
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