The internationally-ranked Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team has been stuck in New York, unable to head to the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships in England, due to a travel issue.

The 23 players, along with crew, family and supporters, planned to use their Haudenosaunee passports to travel overseas. But the British Consulate has refused to recognize the documents unless the U.S. government guarantees the team would be able to return after the tournament ends.

As of Monday, that hadn't happened. And with the games starting on Thursday, the team would have to leave today in order to make it on time,.

“Lacrosse is our game — we are the originators, we invented the game, there are 60 countries that play our game,” Denise Waterman, a member of the team’s board of directors, told The New York Times. “And now we can’t go to a tournament that’s honoring our game? It’s almost unbelievable that this is happening.”

Members of the Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca and the Tuscarora nations have used Haudenosaunee passports in the past to travel overseas. But the U.S. government says a new law and policy -- known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative -- imposes stricter requirements on the types of documents that can be used for international travel.

U.S. officials said the team can travel on U.S. or Canadian issued passports.

Get the Story:
Bid for Trophy Becomes a Test of Iroquois Identity (The New York Times 7/13)
Iroquois lacrosse team banned from flying overseas: U.S. refuses to recognize tribe-issued passports (The New York Daily News 7/13)
US rule could keep Iroquois from lacrosse tourney (AP 7/12)
U.S. Rule Could Keep Iroquois From Lacrosse Event (NPR 7/12)
Iroquois Nationals’ tournament departure delayed by travel snafu (Indian Country Today 7/8)