For the Love of the Game:The Struggle of the Haudenosaunee For Recognized Autonomy

The Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-shaw-nee), a phrase meaning “people of the longhouse”, are a group of six Native American tribes in the Northeastern United States, mostly residing in New York and Canada. Also known as the Six Nations Confederacy, the original five tribes formed this union around 1142, before the creation of either the US or Canada. The nations who are a part of it are the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora. The Tuscarora were formally added to the confederacy in the 1700s when they migrated to New York from the area now known as North Carolina.

The Haudenosaunee have a matrilineal society, and tribes are divided by families, each with a different animal name. Traditionally, they live off the land and believe in giving thanks for everything nature provides for us. Now, in a more modern world, some have adapted to the times and the technology and Western lifestyle. But some do stick to traditional ways, or at least live in the spirit of tradition. Children are still taught ancestral songs and dances, and learn the story of their people.

There is an immense amount of pride about their nation as a separate entity from the US or Canada. Besides their aboriginal right to reside in the area, there are numerous treaties dating back to when Europeans were first settling that prove that for centuries, the Haudenosaunee have been recognized as their own autonomous nation with territory that belongs to only them. As Europeans explored, they would make treaties with the Haudenosaunee to ease their journeys and promote good relations, which could lead to survival due to the natives’ expertise about where food and water was located. The French referred to them as the Iroquois, a name that has stuck throughout the years, though they prefer the name created from their own language.

In the Treaty of Utrecht, which in 1713 stopped a war between the French and the English, they recognized and respected the Haudenosaunee’s aboriginal right to move freely and engage in trade throughout their territories. Other important treaties signed were the Fort Stanwix treaties, setting the boundaries for both the US and Haudenosaunee nations, and the Trade and Intercouse Act, proclaiming that no legal transactions could take place on their land without a present Federal agent and the approval of Congress, to prevent any shady deals.

These legal documents should have protected them from any sort of incident. As Oren Lyons, the current faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation, said, “These treaties are clear evidence that we are a separate sovereign and that our people are citizens of the Haudenosaunee” (Lyons, p.5). However, this would not always be recognized and respected.

Connection to Lacrosse

Suzy Englot, Gettysburg College

Anth 223: “Indigenous People,

The Environment, and the Economy”

Background Threats They Face In the News

Works Cited:

Special Thanks toProfessor Donna Perry

and the Gettysburg CollegeAnthropology Department

This issue was very widely publicized onboth sides of the Atlantic ocean, and mostpeople agreed that justice was not served.However, because of the great amount of international attention that this matter received, the Haudenosaunee felt that they had achieved something greater than performance on the lacrosse field. Said Marty Ward, the goalie of the Nationals,

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The greatest threat to the Haudenosaunee has always been the lack of recognition of their sovereignty. This has led to many setbacks, including a period of time when the state of New York tried (and in many cases, succeeded in) taking their land away from them through underhanded deals. They lost massive amounts of territory, and as recently as 2005 have been appealing decisions with land claims (History-Timeline, 2009). Locals who now live on the disputed land voice concerns that they would have to move, but the Haudenosaunee acknowledge now that all they want from the government at this point is admission that what they did was morally wrong and illegal.

Another setback that has recently resurfaced in the public eye internationally is that of the the Iroquois Nationals being denied entry to England for the World Lacrosse Championships in the summer of 2010 because the British government decided that the Haudenosaunee passports the men and their coaches carried were not sufficient forms of identification for entering the country (BBC News, 2010). They argued that because the documents are partially handwritten and do not contain the chips or holographic detailing that make US passports so secure, it is a safety hazard (Kaplan, 2010). The US also waited until the last minute to agree that they would let the team back into the country with those passports, but they eventually said it was permissible this time. New York State Department spokesperson PJ Crowley said later that

“we’ve done what we can do…It would appear to us at this point that the U.K. has made their final

determination” (Kaplan, 2010).

This is the first time in decades that this has been an issue for the Haudenosaunee. Their first use of these passports dates back to 1977, when they were used by Onondaga delegates to travel to Switzerland (History- Timeline, 2009).. They are recognized in the US and Canada and seen as no problem, and Haudenosaunee have traveled to places like Japan and Australia without any issues. The fact that the Nationals were ranked fourth in the world coming into the tournament makes the matter all the more interesting.

Credit to Jessica Crabtree

Credit to Tuscarora Environment

Credit to The Wampum Chronicles for this picture

Is a nation truly autonomous and sovereign if others do not recognize it to be?

In the example of the Haudenosaunee, we can see that while a sovereign nation can proclaim itself to be so by showing proof of treaties that define boundaries and trade agreements, and have a unique set of languages and culture, and even have its own personal documentation system, there is still another element to being a nation: a majority of countries, especially those closest to you, must recognize you as such. Without the validation of bordering countries, a nation looks less legitimate in the eyes of the world, and incidents may occur that test and seem to break their concept of autonomy.

Conceptual Question:4

Credit to Jan Jekielek

Credit to Tracy Thomas

It is widely accepted that the Iroquois, and more specifically, the Mohawk Nation, were instrumental in the creation of the sport of lacrosse. While Canadians are credited with creating the modern form of lacrosse, they got the idea for the game from natives. To get the final product, “they adopted and then adapted the Mohawk ball game tewaarathon” (Fisher, 10). In 1980, the Haudenosaunee finally created their own national men’s lacrosse team, called the Iroquois Nationals (History Timeline, 2009). Their colors are purple, white, and yellow, and they travel worldwide to compete with all the best teams.

1999 A Brief History of Haudenosaunee-U.S. Relations. Syracuse Peace Council-Land Claim News, Fall.2009 History-Timeline. Onondaga Nation - People of the Hills. Electronic document.http://www.onondaganation.org/aboutus/timeline.html, accessed April 30, 2011.2010 Haudenosaunee Documentation Committee (HDC). Tuscarora Environment. Picture. http://tuscaroraenvironment.com/oldposts.aspx, accessed April 30, 20112010 UK refuses to grant visas to Iroquois lacrosse team. BBC News Online. Electronic document.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us+canada-10634044, accessed May 1, 2011.Bonaparte, Darren2009 The Wampum Chronicles. Picture. http://www.wampumchronicles.com/, accessed May 1, 2011.Crabtree, Jessica2010 Iroquois Nationals-Making lemons into lemonade. Picture. http://www.jessicacrabtree.com/journal1/2010/11/iroquois-nationals-making-lemons-into-lemonade, accessed May 1, 2011David, Frank2011 Czech authorities will allow Iroquois to participate in WILC in Prague. Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse. Electronic

document. http://iroquoisnationals.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138:czech-authorities-will-allow-iroquois-to-participate-at-wilc-in-prague&catid=34:iroquois-nationals-program, accessed April 30, 2011.Fisher, Donald M.2002 Lacrosse: A History of the Game. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Jekielek, Jan.2010 Iroquois Nationals Team Misses First Day of World Lacrosse Championships. The Epoch Times. Picture. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/39249/, accessed April 30, 2011.Johansen, Bruce Elliott and Barbara Alice Mann2000 Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.Kaplan, Thomas2010 Iroquois Defeated by Passport Dispute. New York Times, July 16.Lyons, Oren2010 The Haudenosaunee Confederacy: Sovereignty, Citizenship and Passports. Onondaga Nation-People of the Hills.

Electronic document. http://www.onondaganation.org/news/2010/2010_0711.html, accessed May 1, 2011.Thomas, Tracy2010 Reflections of Injustice: Haudenosaunee Lacrosse. Censored News. Picture. http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-of-injustice-haudenosaunee.html, accessed May 1, 2011.

“We fought a battle that was bigger than lacrosse. It brought indigenous people back to the forefront. It let everyone know that we’re still here—we haven’t gone anywhere.”

-Marty Ward, goalie for the Iroquois Nationals

Recently the Iroquois Nationals receive good news from the Czech Republic, the site of this summer’s indoor lacrosse world championships, in that they will be allowed into the country with their Haudenosaunee passports in a one-time-only deal similar to the one the US agreed on last summer (David, 2011). The US has yet to confirm that it will allow them back into the country with those passports.

For More Information on the Haudenosaunee, go to www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.ca. For Updates on the men’s lacrosse team or to purchase gear (the money goes toward funding future trips), visit www.iroquoisnationals.org.

This section cites material exclusively from Timeline of the Onondaga Nation-People of the Hills, Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee, A Brief History of Haudenosaunee-US Relations, and The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and also draws from personal experience (I live in Syracuse, NY).