Waiting for a decision, time passes with a mix of an Adam Sandler movie and a spiritual chant.
View full sizeIroquois Nationals lacrosse team players spend time in their Queens hotel room singing a Native American social dance song as they wait to find out whether they'll be allowed to travel to the World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England, on their Haudenosaunee passports. From left are Jeremy Thompson of the Onondaga Nation, Kedoh Hill of Six Nations and Jerome Thompson Jr. of Onondaga Nation. In back is assistant coach Ed Shenandoah of Onondaga Nation.New York City -- As the Iroquois Nationals players waited for diplomats and bureaucrats to decide if their Native American team can travel to England for the World Lacrosse Championships, they gathered this morning in a small hotel room in Queens to sing.
Tracy Shenandoah, the Onondaga Nation spiritual adviser to the team, sang a Stomp Dance song, a chant used for social dances.
Lounging on a king-size bed and in hotel chairs, players Jeremy Thompson of the Onondaga Nation and James Cather of Syracuse chanted responses with three players from the Six Nations Territory on the Canadian side of the border, Ryan Burnham, Kedoh Hill and Codie Johnson.
Assistant coaches Ed Shenandoah and Jerome Thompson Sr., who both reside at the Onondaga Nation, sang with them.
The players have been trying to stay upbeat as they wait for the British government to approve visas so they can fly to England.
Wednesday night, a group of them went to the movies together, watching “Grownups,” a comedy starring Adam Sandler.
The team’s wooden lacrosse sticks are packed in bags in a chartered bus parked next to the Comfort Inn hotel where they are staying.
The team’s players, who are in the 20s and late teens, will gather in New York for a team photo, possibly with the Statue of Liberty in the background, later today, said Oren Lyons, an Onondaga Nation faithkeeper, legendary lacrosse goaltender and honorary chairman of the Iroquois Nationals.
“This is going to be a famous team. They’ll be remembered forever, whether they get to go or not,” Lyons predicted.
He said the team’s attorneys will again attempt today to persuade British authorities in New York to allow the team to travel on its Haudenosaunee passports.
“The Iroquois bring a cachet to the game that nobody else does,” Lyons said. “It would be a disaster for the tournament (if the Iroquois Nationals are unable to participate). You can’t have a tournament without the grandfathers of the sport.”
Lyons said he cannot understand why the British government is refusing to allow the team to use their Haudenosaunee passports.
Lyons said he has traveled using that passport to numerous countries, including Russia, France, England, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, the Netherlands and Germany.
“I wouldn’t say we haven’t had any problems. But the fact of the matter is it’s become a document that’s accepted because of its use,” Lyons said.