Biden backs an Indigenous lacrosse team for the 2028 Olympics. It's an uphill fight

By Lexie Schapitl

Published December 6, 2023 at 3:03 PM EST

Supporters hold up a banner displaying the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as they cheer for the Haudenosaunee Nationals during a July 23, 2023 match against England in San Diego, Calif.

Lacrosse will be an Olympic sport in 2028 for the first time in more than a century, and President Biden said on Wednesday that he hopes to see a team of Native American nations competing under their own flag.

Biden threw his support behind the Haudenosaunee Confederacy competing as its own team during remarks at an annual Tribal Nations Summit hosted by the White House.

"Their ancestors invented the game. They perfected it for millenia. Their circumstances are unique. And they should be granted an exception to field their own team at the Olympics," Biden said.

The Haudenosaunee Nationals won the bronze medal at the men's World Lacrosse Championships in June. They would become the first Native American nation to secure an Olympic berth, if granted an exception by the International Olympic Committee to field their own team. Currently, Olympic rules only allow teams from countries that have anational Olympics Committee.

Lacrosse originated with Indigenous peoples of North America, dating back to the 12th century. The sport has been played for centuries to mark celebration, and as a ceremonial "medicine game."

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is made up of six nations – the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscarora – and spans from central New York into Canada.

The team was founded as the Iroquois Nationals in the early 1980s, but modern-day Haudenosaunee consider "Iroquois" a derogatory term. The team name was officially changed last year.

This is not the first time that the Haudenosaunee's eligibility has been a source of controversy for the sport: the Nationals were left off the invite list for the 2022 World Games because organizers said the team did not represent a "sovereign nation." A petition calling for the team's inclusion garnered 55,000 signatures, and the Irish national team dropped out of the tournament in order to give the Nationals a spot.

Haudenosaunee Nationals goalie Warren Hill leaps into the air during a match against England in July during the World Lacrosse Championships in San Diego — a contest won by Haudenosaunee 18-5.

In July, Haudenosaunee leaders met with the White House to make their case to field their own team. The White House has said it wants to make a greater push to recognize the sovereignty of tribal nations.