IS LACROSSE CANADA BECOMING A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION?

 by Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net

The question begs to be answered. Obviously.

When Lacrosse Canada’s Board of Directors meets the meeting starts with some sort of official declaration and a recognition of the origin of the game.

“At this time. I would like to give thanks to the creator for giving this medicine to the lroquois/Haudenousnee (people of the longhouse) for sharing this medicine with the world. Would also like to give thanks to all First Nations. Metis. and Inuit as we all sit in their territories we say thank you. We say thank you Creator for giving us Mother Earth. She then gave us the tree in which our sticks are made from. This is the true roots of the medicine we call Lacrosse today." Nay:weh / thank you. (From Lacrosse Canada’s Board of Directors’ meeting of July 15^th 2026)

Lacrosse Canada thus recognizes two things here:

The creator gave a medicine game to the Iroquois

The Creator gave us Mother Earth

Sadly, Lacrosse Canada, in this official statement, fails to properly identify the Haudenosaunee and has called them Haudenousnee. The disrespectful mistake is still there today.

Now, was this a prayer, a religious moment, a political statement or simply a recognition of an Aboriginal’s culture?

We get some sort of an answer in the first pages of a book called Teiontsikwaeks (Lacrosse: The Creator’s Game) written by Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell and produced by the Ronathahon:ni Cultural Centre in 2010.

‘’In the beginning, lacrosse was played to honor our Creator’’.

‘’It is believed that the game was a gift from the Creator’’.

“We were taught that the game of tewa’ à:raton was given to the Haudenosaunee by the Creator’’.

‘’Our traditional teachings remind us that we have a special relationship with the spirit messengers who passed the game on to us’’

‘’It is believed that the Creator is amused while watching a game of tewa’ à:raton’’.

‘’The purpose for playing twwa’à:raton was to call the Creator’s attention to the efforts of the Elders and Medicine People, to give strength to their doctoring and healing.

‘’Our people believed that by demonstrating to the Creator that the gift of lacrosse had not been forgotten, the Creator would look favorably upon their efforts and assist in the recovery of the stricken member’.’

What we have here is clearly a spiritual and religious belief that there is a Creator who has given the game to one nation and who could look favorably towards the Haudenosaunee’s Medicine People.

What we do not have is factual information pertaining to the Creator:

Who is the Creator?

How did the Creator come to exist?

How was he created?

Where is the Creator?

‘’Who are the spirit messengers?’’

How was lacrosse given to the Haudenosaunee?

When was the game given to the Haudenosaunee?

Did the Creator give another game/sport to another nation or did he only give one game to one nation?

Searching for facts might come in conflict with personal and collective beliefs. But maybe it would be advantageous for the lacrosse community to solicit more factual information from the Haudenosaunee and, at the same time, show interest towards what the scientific community is saying pertaining to the ‘’creation’’ of the world.

The creationist theory (an uncreated Creator) versus the scientific theory (the Big Bang) are two legitimate theories; one, for lack of facts, is based on a genuine belief; the other on the results of researches and verifications.

At this time two elements appear as being required:

One; the Haudenosaunee should endeavor to give answers to the questions above and bring forward the factual information that will explain the existence of the Creator.

Two; Lacrosse Canada should be careful when it defines itself as part of the creationist community and in pre meeting statements affirms the existence of a Creator and state that the game it governs is the Creator’s game.

In the coming years, and decades, whichever theory will become dominant and accepted will create huge difficulties for the followers of the other theory. It will be a question of credibility.