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In lacrosse’s birthplace, Indigenous women get their chance to compete
north american indigenous games

Among Indigenous communities, lacrosse has traditionally been something only men participated in. But in the sport's mecca, five teams of women are blazing a new trail at the North American Indigenous Games , Rachel Brady reports

Team B.C. lines up before playing Team Ontario during their under-19 women’s lacrosse match at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena during 2017 North American Indigenous Games in Toronto, Monday July 17, 2017.

Rachel Brady
Six nations of the grand river

This article was published more than 6 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

This week, in the heart of a region many call the birthplace of lacrosse, Kiana Point is part of something special.

The sport has deep roots in Indigenous culture and has always been a keystone event at the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), a popular multisport gathering for Indigenous youth held every few years since 1990. Point's two older brothers both played lacrosse at NAIG, and her father was twice a coach. This week, she is finally getting her turn, as female box lacrosse makes its long-awaited NAIG debut.

Five teams are competing in the female under-19 division – Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Eastern Door and the North (EDN), a team representing Indigenous territory straddling the borders of Quebec, Ontario and New York state.

Two of the event's three arenas are in the Six Nations of the Grand River, Canada's largest Indigenous reserve – and a mecca of lacrosse in Southwestern Ontario. Trophies, photos and championship banners inside both Iroquois Lacrosse Arena and Gaylord Powless Arena tell the story of Six Nations' deep devotion to the sport. It's the setting this week for hard hits and dazzling goals, for relatives cheering wildly and beating drums, for cultural celebrations and the community's most famous lacrosse champs returning home to rub elbows with stick-twizzling kids. It's a celebration of the game their people invented, and for the first time at NAIG, females are part of the action.

"It's an absolute honour," said Point, a 19-year-old member of Team BC who hails from Vernon. "It feels like I am following in the footsteps of my brothers. I have been waiting for there to be a female division at NAIG before I got too old to play in it."

Team Ontario coach Pat Pembleton speaks to his team before playing Team B.C. during their under-19 women’s lacrosse match.

Lacrosse was created by the Haudenosaunee people – commonly called Iroquois – before Europeans arrived in North America. It is considered sacred: The Haudenosaunee call it "the Creator's game" or "the medicine game" and believe it has healing powers. Traditionally, lacrosse was played only by men, as a form of medicine for the sick, as a method of resolving conflicts instead of going to war or as an act of gratitude for the Creator.

Point, like many other women playing at NAIG, has played most of her lacrosse on boys' teams. She's been playing since the age of five, running around the rinks watching her older brothers and learning from her dad. Today, she plays for the Okanagan Junior B Shamrocks – alongside men six-feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. She knows just one other woman in the league and doesn't know many girls her age playing in the B.C. Interior.

Point's team, Ontario and EDN are the three powerhouses of the NAIG tournament. The games between the three have been close and very physical, and emotions have run high. Still, the women shake hands with each other and the referees after every match and even ride the buses back to the athletes' village together.

The event has drawn lacrosse players from various backgrounds. For some, this is the first time they've been surrounded by all-Indigenous teammates. Others are star field lacrosse players coming over to box for the first time, lured by the appeal of playing in the NAIG – an event drawing 5,000 Indigenous athletes over 14 different sports – and the chance to play in a lacrosse hotbed such as Six Nations.

"Some of us were throwing up before the game, we were so nervous. We feel so proud, and it's something we can tell our kids about some day – women making history at NAIG," said Team Ontario's Kamryn White, a 16-year-old from Delaware Nation. "I know Haudenosaunee women didn't play the sport back in the day. However, girls today are picking up sports that boys are, and it's so wonderful to be recognized for it. It's great to know NAIG is supporting the Creator's game."

Team Ontario’s Shkuhnodin Shognash-Myers celerbrates her goal with teammates against Team B.C. during their under-19 women’s lacrosse match.

Traditionally, women were said to attend games as spectators or to provide nutrition, water or care for the injured. But they did not play, and wooden lacrosse sticks were considered sacred objects that should only be touched by males.

Some First Nations communities still don't allow women and girls to play lacrosse. Some coaches and players participating in NAIG this year fully support females playing the sport, but only if they are using one of the more commonly produced hollow sticks made of synthetic material or metal. Other coaches don't mind if their players want to use wooden sticks, calling today's synthetics "Tupperware sticks."

"In my opinion, I don't want my female players to touch wooden sticks," said Team EDN coach James Burns, who has three granddaughters on the team. "Even if the guys bring their wooden sticks around, I tell my female players not to touch them. I have coached non-native female goalies before and I have no problem with them using a wooden stick if they want to."

Many coaching the women in this event have long histories in men's lacrosse and are now helping grow the women's game.

"We play the game for the elders and the sick. And while it used to just be a game for men, it's acceptable today for women to play, and that's why I'm so honoured to be coaching Ontario's women at NAIG," coach Pat Pembleton said. "I know growing up, when I was playing, we had a couple of girls playing with us, but it wasn't something you saw much. I think the popularity of women's field lacrosse paved the way for this to happen with box lacrosse. On some residences, though, you will still find that women playing is still not accepted."

Team B.C.’s Kiana Point looks on before playing Team Ontario during their under-19 women’s lacrosse match.

There are 15 male teams competing over two divisions at NAIG – U16 and U19 – in the same rinks where the females play. Both girls and boys fill the lobbies lugging equipment bags, and they all packed Iroquois Arena Tuesday night to watch the popular local Major Series Lacrosse team, the Six Nations Chiefs.

There was also a lacrosse cultural fair in the fields surrounding Gaylord Powless Arena Tuesday, with booths selling traditional crafts and hand-popped Iroquois kettle corn. It was attended by several pro lacrosse players who grew up in Six Nations and now hold celebrity status there. Johnny Powless of the Georgia Swarm and Rochester Nighthawks teammates Sid Smith and Cody Jamieson were among the homegrown National Lacrosse League stars mingling with NAIG players and playing with star-struck young kids. Even National Hockey League rookie Brandon Montour was there, a defenceman for the Anaheim Ducks who had been a dual-sports star in the area and won a lacrosse Minto Cup in 2014 with the Six Nations Arrows.

"It is my sincere hope that by having all the visitors come to Six Nations to play lacrosse as part of NAIG, they will experience the infectiousness of the game in our community," said Russ Doxtator, Indigenous director for the Canadian Lacrosse Association.

This week, there was a simple ceremony to mark the first female game at NAIG, including a traditional dance by local children and an address from Six Nations Chief Ava Hill.

"You will inspire all the young girls watching," Chief Hill told the female players.

The first gold, silver and bronze medals in box lacrosse will be awarded to women on Friday.

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