Every Olympic cycle, I find myself glued to the television, watching a random sport I’ve never heard of and eventually becoming so invested that you would think I’d been a lifelong fan.
The upcoming Summer Olympics are extremely close to home (literally) with the 2028 Olympics being hosted in the United States — and, more specifically, Los Angeles. UCLA will also serve as the Olympic and Paralympic Village, housing athletes during the competition.
Although the Games are still over a year away, there’s no time like the present to start talking about the event. With the United States hosting, several new and returning sports are being added to the Olympic program. Baseball and softball are coming back after sitting out the Paris 2024 games, flag football and squash are making their Olympic debuts, and cricket is returning for the first time since 1900.
What I find the most important, however, is that lacrosse is returning for the first time since 1908. Lacrosse has an incredibly rich historical and cultural connection to Indigenous communities, and it’s important that we remember that history, especially as the sport is thrust into the global spotlight during the upcoming Olympics.
The origins of lacrosse can be traced back centuries, with early forms of the game played by the Haudenosaunee people. Games could include hundreds or even thousands of players at a time and last for days, taking place across fields that stretched for miles. Lacrosse has long been an important part of Haudenosaunee culture. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy consists of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations, whose people traditionally understand the game as a gift from the Creator and a form of medicine used to heal their communities.
In the 1600s, French missionaries first witnessed the game being played, and eventually, European settlers established more strict rules for it. However, as the sport became increasingly organized, Indigenous players faced exclusion from formal competitions. The National Lacrosse Association, established in 1867, excluded Indigenous teams from its championships, contributing to their absence from official competition for decades.
In 1983, the Iroquois Nationals men’s team — now renamed the Haudenosaunee Nationals — was created and sanctioned by the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee. The team represents the Six Nations Confederacy in international lacrosse competitions, competing under its own flag. The women’s program also represents the Haudenosaunee in international competition. According to World Lacrosse’s rankings, the men’s and women’s teams have both established themselves among the world’s top programs.
However, the upcoming Olympics have brought up new conversations regarding the Haudenosaunee National teams. Despite being able to compete in World Championships, the International Olympic Committee is not allowing the teams to participate under their own flag to qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics, due to not having a National Olympic Committee like other countries. The IOC has stated that Haudenosaunee players can participate on either American or Canadian teams depending on their passports, but the players wish to play under their own flag and represent their own people.
Many believe that it is unfair to keep the people who originated lacrosse from the sport’s biggest international competition, particularly as the sport returns to the Olympics in a country where it holds such deep cultural significance.
As of right now, the Haudenosaunee Nationals’ participation in the 2028 Olympics remains unresolved. The organization is continuing to pursue recognition and a pathway to compete under its own flag.
Whether or not the Haudenosaunee teams are ultimately allowed to compete, when you turn on your television for the 2028 Olympics and happen to catch a lacrosse match, I hope you’ll remember the sport’s origins and the people who have carried its history forward.