The Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Organization is an indigenous sports organization (the only one of its kind in the world) that competes on the world stage. We are sanctioned by the sovereign Haudenosaunee Grand Council and are governed by the Haudenosaunee Nationals Board of Directors. The Haudenosaunee Nationals Board of Trustees is the fiscal arm of the Haudenosaunee Nationals.
Our teams travel internationally on our own passports. The Haudenosaunee People have maintained that we are sovereign people. We have a nation-to-nation relationship with the United States and Canada and have a number of treaties with these and other nations.
Why We Changed Our Name
The name "Iroquois" is a French variant on a term for "snake" given to us by the Huron. It is actually a derogatory term. As many of our people lost our language through forced assimilation via government policies and residential boarding schools, the English name "Iroquois" stuck. Many researchers over the years have used the term "Iroquois" when writing about us. So when we formed a National Lacrosse Team back in 1983, we used the name "Iroquois Nationals" since that is what most people knew us by. For 39 years we have referred to our team as the "Iroquois Nationals."
However, as our people have begun to revitalize our languages and culture, we felt it was time to change our name to what we collectively call ourselves: "Haudenosaunee" (ho-dee-no-show-nee) which translates to "People of the Longhouse." This name change is one of a series of actions we are taking as our people continue to regain what has been lost through colonialism.
Thus, we are now called the Haudenosaunee Nationals and have begun the process of changing all touchpoints affected by our name change, including our website, social media accounts, jerseys, business cards, etc. There are a number of places, items, and products that are affected by this and it will take time to get all of them changed. In the mean time, we say "nya:weh" for your patience and support through this effort!