Bulldogs To Face Iroquois National Team

Sept. 18, 2007

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Yale men's lacrosse team will play an exhibition contest against the Iroquois National Team at the Madison Surf Club's Strong Field on Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. The game is part of the Hammonassett Native American Festival, held each year in Madison, where approximately 10,000 Native Americans are expected to be in attendance. Admission for the game is $5.

Yale, which typically plays some fall games to prepare for the spring season, received special permission from the Ivy League to play this contest, which will likely be 20-minute quarters. Don Rankin, a Yale graduate and the director of the Hammonassett Festival, suggested playing the contest as a part of the festival program and contacted Yale head coach Andy Shay last winter. Shay, who grew up in Northern New York, is friends with many of the Iroquois players.

"This is an exciting way to show off the game of lacrosse and educate sports fans on the history of the sport in this country," said Shay. "Everyone in the Yale lacrosse program is excited about the opportunity to play in this event. This is also a great chance to reach out to a shoreline area that has embraced the sport at the youth and high school levels."

Rankin, an instructor in Connecticut Geology and local Native American history at the Megs Point Nature Center, first conceived the idea of the Hammonassett Festival with his friend Dale Carson a number of years ago. The Friends of Hammonassett is one of the most impactful environmental organizations in the state. With nice weather, attendance at the Festival is expected to reach 5,000 to 10,000 per day. There are currently 13,000 Connecticut residents who list their primary heritage as Native American.

"This festival was organized to honor Native American culture, as well as to provide environmental education," Rankin said. "Native American appreciation for the natural world makes including environmental education and appreciation for nature in this special event a compelling fusion. I see this event as a remarkable way for Yale University to present its own set of priorities, respecting and honoring the culture of our First Americans."

The Iroquois Confederacy is credited with inventing the modern game of lacrosse, playing it long before Europeans came to North America. The modern international long-stick game was created by the Iroquois. Iroquois tribes are the indigenous people of areas in what is now New York State and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Also known as the Six Nations, the Confederacy consists of the Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca and Tuscarora tribes. The alliance created the first United Nations in North America and maintains the oldest continuously-operating government on the continent. In 1987, Congress recognized the contributions of the Iroquois people to the democratic principles of the U.S. Constitution.

Today, approximately 70,000-plus Iroquois live in 18 communities in New York, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Ontario and Quebec. Iroquois tribes have lived in northeastern North America for thousands of years. Members of the Six Nations currently residing in New York and Canada remain sovereign and independent, and Iroquois people travel internationally as residents of their respective nation and carry their own passports. Lacrosse is the only sport in which the Six Nations organizes a national team.