Lacrosse at the Olympics gives Indigenous communities a chance to see their sport shine

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

Nearly 1,000 years after lacrosse was first played across the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the sport will be on the Olympic schedule in 2028. Whether the Haudenosaunee, a collection of six Indigenous nations in upstate New York and adjacent sections of Canada, will have a spot in that tournament is still in question. The final call will come down to whether the International Olympic Committee will buck a decades-old tradition of allowing teams from only a country with a national Olympic committee. Or whether it will bend to include the Haudenosaunee, which would pay homage to the Indigenous roots of the game in an ecosystem that is always seeking more inclusiveness.