Day 5: UK continues to deny visas to Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse

Iroquois Lacrosse team holds out hope of playing in Saturday's game

UK continues to deny visas to Iroquois Nationals
"The UK is not letting us into the country. They told us last week that once the U.S. has cleared us they'll allow us in... now they're going back on their word." - Gewas Schinder, Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Captain
Contact the Prime Minister David Cameron - https://email.number10.gov.uk/

Iroquois lacrosse team defaults on 1st tourney game, still trying to get OK to enter England
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/iroquois-lacrosse-team-defaults-on-1st-tourney-game-still-trying-to-get-ok-to-enter-england-98533134.html

The Winners: Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team

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'The insistence by the US, Canada and now the UK that we must declare either US or Canadian citizenship to travel, in some instances within our own community, is not just assimilation but genocide.' --John Kane, Mohawk

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

The sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee will not disappear with the refusal of Britain to recognize the Iroquois Lacrosse Nationals Lacrosse Team passports.

Neither the U.S. nor Britain acted in good faith. The US State Department's last minute, one-time waiver, is no solution.
Britain's last minute, turn-about refusal to honor the US waiver and the Haudenosaunee sovereign passport is inexcusable.
All the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team players wanted to do was to play lacrosse, the game invented by the Iroquois, and honor their identity.
The words "American Indian sovereignty" are often used in the media, but seldom is it manifest with such power and conviction as by these young Haudenosaunee men.
The Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team members are truly the winners.
Barbara Low, Mi'kmaq Nation, said she is "so grateful to the Iroquois National Lacrosse team, for choosing principle over expediency."
"They have already won something that is far more valuable then a trophy. They are true role models, worthy of our utmost respect, and humble admiration. By standing ground, they are drawing the world's attention to the very real struggle of Indigenous Sovereignty," Low said, adding that she stands in solidarity with all other Indigenous Nations who seek to remove the mantle of Colonialism.
John Kane, Mohawk, said this issue exposes more than assimilation, it exposes genocide.
"I am glad we have an entity like the Iroquois Nationals to bring this issue out to the public, but international travel and simple border crossing issues are something our people deal with every day. The insistence by the US, Canada and now the UK that we must declare either US or Canadian citizenship to travel, in some instances within our own community, is not just assimilation but genocide."
Kane publishes the Native Pride blog and is an editor and writer for Making A Visible Impact Magazine.

'Think Outside the Bomb' Gallup, NM, July 24, 2010

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• Think Outside the Bomb National Tour:
• http://totbtour.wordpress.com/

At last minute, UK refuses to allow Haudenosaunee passports

VIDEO (below) US Rep. Dan Maffei, D-NY, brought the issue to Congress twice Wednesday. Rep. Maffei demanded that Britian issue the visas at 4:30 pm Wednesday, stating that it will be an international embarrassment if the team is not allowed to compete.

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

With the hours ticking away, and an OK from the US State Department, the United Kingdom refused to honor the Haudenosaunee passports of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team on Wednesday afternoon.

US Rep. Dan Maffei, D-NY, took the issue to Congress twice Wednesday and demanded that Britian issue the visas. Rep. Maffei said it would be an international embarrassment if the team is not allowed to compete.

The Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team issued a statement about the United Kingdom's last minute rejection of their travel documents, on Wednesday afternoon.

"We have been informed by the Consulate of the United Kingdom of Great Britain that they will not accept the one-time travel waiver offered by the US State Department authorizing travel using the Haudenosaunee Passport for the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team and its delegation to the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships starting tomorrow in Manchester, England.

"We are deeply disappointed, and urge our friends and supporters to reach out to the British government to seek reconsideration in this unprecedented rejection of Haudenosaunee passports as well as the one-time travel waiver issued by the US State Departments as was originally requested by the UK Consulate," the team said in a written statement signed by Percy Abrams, executive director, and Tonya Gonella Frichner, board member.

Stranded in New York since Sunday, the team members are also waiting for a last minute clearance from the Canadian government for team members who were born in Canada.

The team was unable to depart Wednesday on its rescheduled flight at 4 pm. With the flight time and time difference, the flight would have landed shortly before the game, which is scheduled to being at 7 pm on Thursday.

The team members have remained resolute in traveling on their own Haudenosaunee passports, becoming a symbol of true living sovereignty for Indian Nations.

The US State Department issued a one-time waiver for the team's travel, it was announced Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, the UK denied travel visas.

Before the US State Department issued the go-ahead, Rep. Maffei told Congress, “To this team, accepting U.S. passports would be akin to denouncing their own national and ethnic identity,” Maffei said. “It is a matter of principle to them, and the State Department and Department of Homeland Security have lost the forest from the trees in refusing to allow the team to travel as citizens of an indigenous nation.”
Team contact: Percy Abrams, executive director, 716-417-3713 or Tonya Gonella Frichner, board member, 201-314-1601

Team members, camped out in a hotel in New York, said Wednesday night that they had not lost hope. Director James Cameron donated $50,000 to help the team with expenses.




Video Two: US Rep. Dan Maffei, Democrat from New York's 25th District, brought the issue to Congress twice on Wednesday. Demanding Britian issue the visas at 4:30 pm Wednesday, Maffei said it will be an international embarrassment if the team is not allowed to compete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX4SLaVwQdI

Video One: US Rep. Maffei's morning address to Congress on the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlR5XqtRhWg