From the pen of Felicia Fonseca, via Associated Press

The team has maintained that traveling on anything other than an Iroquois-issued passport would be a strike against the players’ identity. But the British government wouldn’t budge in denying team members entry into England without U.S. or Canadian passports, keeping the Iroquois Nationals from competing at the World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester in the sport their ancestors helped create.

[…]

“You know that as a young person that you are sovereign, that you are not part of the United States,” he said. “We were the first people here.”

The National Congress of American Indians, based in Washington, D.C., has advocated on behalf of the lacrosse team, urging British officials to allow the members entry into England on their Iroquois-issued passports.

But some say the team’s adamant position has gone too far.

Michael Smith, a Navajo living on the Southwestern reservation, said it’s important to note that the Iroquois live in the U.S. on land he and his father fought to protect as Marines.

The Iroquois land isn’t recognized globally as a country, so the team’s efforts have been almost futile, he said.

“You’re flying overseas,” he said. “Get your U.S. passport and go kick some butt.”