Iroquois National Team and Self Determination

Iroquois National team players including Syracuse alum on the first row left to right, Chief Oren Lyons (Lacrosse Hall of Fame) who was a goalie on the same undefeated SU team with Jim Brown (Lacrosse Hall of Fame) next to him Mark "Red Man" Burham 27 and Emmett Printup 4.

The Iroquois National team declined to travel to England on any other passport but Iroquois Federation passports to compete in the 2010 Lacrosse World Cup. I say kudos to them for taking a stand as a sovereign nation. I played on the 1990 US National team that faced off against the Iroquois in their first ever Lacrosse World Cup in Australia. I recall meeting with Oren Lyons, Traditional Chief of the Iroquois Confederacy, who like me is a Syracuse University Lacrosse alum, in his hotel room in Australia. He pulled out his Iroquois Federation pass port and proudly asked me with a smile on this face, if I understood what it was. He then went on to explain that competing in the Lacrosse World Cup meant more than fun and games for the Iroquois players (some of whom were my college teammates at SU), it represented the Federation’s declaration of the right to self determination and sovereignty within the borders of the United States and Canada (and my guess, possibly a bid for a sit in the United Nations). That was an eye opener for me as graduate student in history then and now as a professor of history and blogger.

Related Links:

 1990 World Games: http://lacrossememoir.blogspot.com/2010/07/iroquois-pay-back-at-1990-lacrosse.html

Traveling with Eli: http://frederickdouglassopie.blogspot.com/2009/10/traveling-with-eli-part-ii-and-native.html)