The Olympic sport that doesn't allow its inventors to participate

BarcelonaOne of the new additions to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles will be the return of North America's oldest sport: lacrosse. A team sport with 10 players, the objective is to score goals in a net defended by a goalkeeper. The small rubber ball is passed using a stick with a net at the end. This electrifying game is first documented around the year 1100 in the region of what is now New York State, where it was played by various Iroquois tribes as part of rituals and festivities. These wild matches involved hundreds of players and could result in broken bones or even death. Lacrosse was included in the Olympic program in 1904 and 1908, with two Canadian victories, but its popularity subsequently declined. It was a demonstration sport in 1928, 1932, and 1948. After that, it disappeared from the Games until now.

This game was invented by Native American peoples, but the current version is the one adapted by Europeans. When French missionaries arrived in the area, they named the sport "lacrosse" because the stick reminded them of a cross. Indigenous peoples refer to the sport as "the creator's game" because a legend claims it was invented by a deity and that the first game was played by the birds of the sky against the mammals of the earth. In Canada, physician George Beers published the first version of the rules of the game in Montreal in 1867, establishing order and regulations. Beers even organized a tour of a team with both Native Americans and whites, which played the first documented lacrosse game in Europe before Queen Victoria in London.

Lacrosse is returning to the Olympic program, taking advantage of its strong popularity in the United States, both for men and women. It's a popular sport among college students, partly because, despite being a contact sport, it's less violent than American football. For this reason, it was one of the five sports chosen for the Los Angeles Games, along with flag football (a version of American football), squash, cricket, and baseball/softball. The problem is that the game's creators haven't taken it well and already feel excluded. The reason? Within lacrosse, the national team of the Haudenosaunee Confederation competes officially and faces the United States, even though its players are American citizens.

The International Lacrosse Federation decided to allow the existence of the Haudenosaunee Confederation's national team as a sign of respect for the game's creators. This Iroquois confederation includes the Mohawk, Oneida, Tuscarora, Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes. In the World Cup, they can use their flag and face anyone. But they are not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.

From Biden to Trump

The Haudenosaunee Federation has been fighting for two years to convince the International Olympic Committee to allow them to compete independently in Los Angeles. They cite the precedent of the distant 1904 Games, when a team made up of Mohawk Indians participated. However, back then the Games didn't have firm rules, and the Canadian delegation was able to send two teams: one made up of players of European descent and this one of Mohawks. These players requested to participate using their Indigenous names, not the names given to them by Westerners: Almighty Voice, Black Eagle, Black Hawk, Crescent Moon, Snake Eater, Spotted Tail, Light Foot, Soap Poruc Man, Night Hawk, Rain in the Face, and Red Jacket.

More than a century later, the dream of having a local team again remains alive, although things have become more complicated with the rise to power of Donald Trump, who, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden, has no interest in this matter. One of Biden's last acts before leaving the White House was to support the Haudenosaunee campaign to persuade the International Olympic Committee. "Their ancestors invented the game. They perfected it over millennia. Their circumstances are unique. And I should grant them an exception to field their own team at the Olympic Games," Biden said.

A joint statement from the U.S. and Canadian governments read: "While participation in the Olympic Games is generally reserved for recognized countries, the Haudenosaunee are seeking a special exception from the IOC to field their own lacrosse team. Haudenosaunee competing in lacrosse, the sport they invented, would promote the highest values ​​of the Olympic Games and send a powerful message about respect and appreciation for Indigenous cultural heritage."

According to Leo Nolan, an official with the Haudenosaunee Federation, they aren't asking for anything unreasonable. "This sport is part of our lives, a central part of our way of life. The Haudenosaunee are recognized as a nation without a government within the United States and have had the opportunity to sign international treaties as such. And the International Olympic Committee allows nations and territories that are not recognized states, such as Puerto Rico, Aruba, or Guam, to compete." The IOC simply points out the need to respect the Olympic Charter and that without their own Olympic Committee, they cannot compete. And the Haudenosaunee, descendants of the Iroquois confederation that four centuries ago was a very powerful state, lack their own Olympic Committee. They only have a lacrosse federation.

The return to power of Donald Trump, who is not known for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and has shown indifference to this request from the Haudenosaunee, who continue to play in world championships, both in stadiums and in virtual versions, hasn't helped matters.indoorIn honor of the game's creators, the international federation granted them an official federation in the 1970s. This has allowed the Haudenosaunee to participate in the World Championships and has created some diplomatic tension, as the players travel with Iroquois passports, recognized by the United States but not valid for travel to Europe. If the IOC doesn't intervene and not accept them, the next debate will be whether the US federation will call up players from the Haudenosaunee national team to bolster its squad. Rivals in the World Championships, they should be playing together in 2028.