Sports

Haudenosaunee Nationals Road To The Olympics

The Only Indigenous Sports Team In The World Competing On The World Stage

haudenosauneenationals.com

Lacrosse is an Indigenous game. We call it the Creator’s Game and it was originally played as a Medicine Game with special instructions to dispel conflict, to heal and to have fun. Today our players are Ambassadors of their game carrying the original message of Friendship, Healing and Peace to other nations of the world. We travel on Haudenosaunee passports, marching together with the Hiawatha Belt, our flag, speaking our languages, and celebrating our culture and our sovereignty.

We are the ONLY Indigenous Sports Team to compete in international competition in the world.

Why We Changed Our Name

The name “Iroquois” is a French variant on a term for “snake” given to us by the Huron. It is actually a derogatory term. As many of our people lost our language through forced assimilation via government policies and residential boarding schools, the English name “Iroquois” stuck. Many researchers over the years have used the term “Iroquois” when writing about us. So when we formed a National Lacrosse Team back in 1983, we used the name “Iroquois Nationals” since that is what most people knew us by. For 39 years we have referred to our team as the “Iroquois Nationals.”

However, as our people have begun to revitalize our languages and culture, we felt it was time to change our name to what we collectively call ourselves: “Haudenosaunee” (ho-dee-no-show-nee) which translates to “People of the Longhouse.” This name change is one of a series of actions we are taking as our people continue to regain what has been lost through colonialism.

Thus, we are now called the Haudenosaunee Nationals and have begun the process of changing all touchpoints affected by our name change, including our website, social media accounts, jerseys, business cards, etc. There are a number of places, items, and products that are affected by this and it will take time to get all of them changed. In the mean time, we say “nya:weh” for your patience and support through this effort!

~ Published May 2022