For over 30 years, the Haudenosaunee—formerly known as the Iroquois Nationals—have sent a team to the World Lacrosse Championship and other tournaments under their own flag.
Competing independently of the United States and Canada, the Great Lakes-based Native American and First Nations tribe has won bronze medals at each of the three most recent world championships. They're currently ranked third in the world, behind only the American and Canadian teams.
With lacrosse's inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics looming, a decision will have to be made about whether the Haudenosaunee can play in Los Angeles as a nation.
On Wednesday, the Haudenosaunee acquired a powerful new ally in that fight: President Joe Biden.
“Their ancestors invented the game, they perfected it for millennia, their circumstances are unique, and they should be granted an exception to field their own team at the Olympics,” Biden said at a summit held by the White House focusing on Native American issues.
The International Olympic Committee will have to approve the move before the Haudenosaunee Confederacy can compete under their own flag.
Lacrosse is believed to be nearly 1,000 years old, only acquiring its French-language exonym in the 1600s. The Haudenosaunee team's website describes the game as "one of (the confederacy's) most revered traditions, a celebration of health, strength, courage, leadership, and fair play."
