Haudenosaunee Confederacy News

• The Iroquois Nationals Program is the representative team for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to the Federation of International Lacrosse. The Federation of International Lacrosse involves presenting world games in field and box lacrosse. Only nations can belong to the Federation. Member nations include the United States, Canada, England, Australia, Japan and the Iroquois Nationals. There is a component in the FIL organization for what is called emerging Nations. These are nations who have started field lacrosse programs. Some nations included are Wales, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Ireland, Finland, Germany and many more.

The World Games are held every four (4) years. In 2010 the World Games Championships will be hosted by England at Manchester. The level is for men. In 2011 the World Box Games will take place and in 2012 the 19 and Under World Games will take place. A member country submits bid(s) to host the World Game Championship. The Box World Games will take place in Czechoslovakia.

The Iroquois Nationals Board of Directors does have eligibility criteria for those players trying out. The criteria is as follows:

All Haudenosaunee players must have a letter from their respective Nations stating that they are citizens of that Nation.

Indigenous players from North America must have a letter from their Nation attesting their citizenship. These players may have a United States or Canadian passport.

It is the responsibility of each player to obtain this letter document and passport.

Haudenosaunee passports are issued at Onondaga Nation-via New York by:

Secretary of the Grand Council-Jessica Shenandoah

Onondaga Communication Center

102 West Conklin Avenue, Nedrow, New York 13120

Telephone 315 -492-1922, Fax 315-469-1747

Email: [email protected]

All Iroquois National Teams, i.e., Under 19-Men Lacrosse Team, Men Field Lacrosse Team, Men Box Lacrosse Team, or youth team carrying the Iroquois National colors and logo must be sanctioned by the Iroquois Nationals Board of Directors.

The bottom line: The nation has the final word on who will receive approval for a Haudenosaunee passport.

• The Haudenosaunee Confederacy will have a Grand Council meeting on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 10 a.m. Agenda items: Haudenosaunee Documentation Committee report and request(s), Report from Washington, DC meeting update on CBSA (Akwesasne) issue and other items.

•On November 5, 2009 the President of the United States, Barack Obama met with native American leadership at the White House. Over 500 native leaders attended the meeting that was organized by the White House. Invitations were sent to the federally recognized tribes/nations requesting a representative from their tribe/nation attend the meting. The meeting was a one day affair and with over 500 leaders in attendance one’s words would need to be eloquent and impacting. Attending this first of a kind meeting by a President were Sid Hill and Jake Edwards from Onondaga; Stuart Patterson from Tuscarora and Stuart Jamieson from the Seneca Nation (Tonawanda). Every department/agency working with Native American tribes/nations were in attendance at the meeting.

The day prior to the meeting White House representatives met with selected leadership to prepare questions for the next day meeting. Jim Ransom (St. Regis Mohawk Tribe) did ask for Haudenosaunee leadership permission to bring up the Haudenosaunee Documentation Committee ID cards and permission was granted. Also the Haudenosaunee leadership asked Jim to encourage the President to review the UN Declaration on Human Rights for Indigenous People. Jim brought up both issues to the President.

The President signed an MOU at the meeting in front of the tribal/nation leadership. The MOU states that within 90 days the White House will have a policy on how the government will work with the tribes/nations. The president did state that the governments consultation process will be on a “nation to nation, government to government process.”

In a fifteen-minute interview with the White House Press Corps, Stuart Patterson stated he was disappointed in the one-day meeting. This is not enough time and there are many issues, concerns from the leadership. Patterson did mention the UN Declaration on Human Rights for Indigenous People in his interview and the USA not being a signatory to the document.