By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Thirty of the world's nations are participating in the World Lacrosse Championships in England, including a team from the Iroquois Confederacy.
Twenty-three players representing a team from the confederacy have passports issued by the Iroquois, not the US. They have participated at every tournament as a separate nation because of the Iroquois' lacrosse heritage. But the players might not be at this year's tournament because of a dispute over the validity of their passports.
The federal government says it will only let players back into the country if they have U.S. passports. Scott Price is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. On yesterday's "All Things Considered" on WBFO, Price said Native American sovereignty is at the core of the dispute.
"The Iroquois' stance is very simple. They're representing a nation, and they're not going to travel on the passport of a competitor," Price said.
The Iroquois have used their own passports in the past, but a State Department spokesman said the new dispute can be traced to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which went into effect last year. The new rules require, among other things, that Americans carry passports or new high-tech documents to cross the country's borders.