Iroquois Nationals travel window closing Originally printed at http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/sports/Iroquois-Nationals-travel-wi ndow-closing-98454864.html
Update: "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 U.S. 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 U.S. State Department as was originally requested by the UK Consulate," said Chief Oren R. Lyons, Honorary Chairman, Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team. Editors note: At press time, the team missed the 4 p.m. flight while awaiting word from Canadian and British officials to grant waivers and approval of visas. However, a sympathetic donor purchased tickets for an 11 p.m. flight on July 14 and the team is still trying to travel in time to play. It is unlikely they will make the opening game in time, and as a last resort, team officials may request their game time be postponed. NEW YORK - The U.S. State Department has issued a last minute one-time only travel waiver that will allow members of the Iroquois Nationals <http://iroquoisnationals.org/> lacrosse team who were born south of the U.S.-Canadian international border to fly out of JFK Airport to England at 4 p.m. today, July 14, using their Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports. The team will compete in the opening game of the 2010 World Lacrosse <http://www.2010worldlacrosse.com/> Championships that takes place in Manchester July 15, which means the players will virtually walk off the plane and onto the playing field with only a few hours in between. The team's travel has been delayed since Sunday, July 11, over the recognition of the Haudenosaunee passports. "We are very pleased that the Obama administration and Secretary Hillary Clinton have taken this positive position," said Oren Lyons, an Onondaga Faithkeeper and chairman of the Iroquois Nationals board of directors. "Discussions initiated by Secretary Clinton led to a sea change in position." "We've overcome a major hurdle," said Tonya Gonnella Frichner, who works with the team. Gonnella Frichner, Snipe Clan, Onondaga Nation, the North American regional representative to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, has been working with the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security for about a week to resolve the issue. "The U.S. has been very cooperative and has made this concession in giving us this permission, so we're waiting for the documents," she said around 1 p.m. as the team and coaches held a press conference at the American Indian Community House with CNN, the New York Times, the AP and other mainstream media in New York. Cheryl Mills, the chief of staff for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, approved the one-time waivers for the players born in the United States during a morning conference call with several of the team's attorneys. "We're working with the Canadian government right now to get permission for those born on the north side of the international border, and then we have to work with the United Kingdom," she said. Around 14 members of the 50-member delegation were born north of the international border, nine are team members. It is also not clear whether the team will agree to travel and play without all of the members being present. Alex Page, an attorney for the Iroquois Nationals, said the federal government could also approve the travel documents for those team and delegation members born in Canada. "I am concerned that the State Departments position overlooks the authority vested in the secretary of Homeland Security to waive documentation requirements for non-citizens seeking to enter the U.S.," Page said in an e-mail to government officials. She cited a statute that says, in part, that the secretary of Homeland Security has broad discretion to waive documentation requirements for travel of citizens and non-citizens into the United States provided that doing so serves the national interest, or that she can establish that the alternate documentation possessed by the travelers suffices to establish citizenship and identity. "We believe these conditions are easily met here and provide a basis for the U.S. to give whatever assurances England requires regarding the players' ability to return home," Page wrote. The team was supposed to fly to England on Sunday, July 11, but could not leave after the British government refused to recognize their Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports and asked the U.S. government for written assurance that the delegation would be allowed to return to their homes. The U.S. government refused until today to issue that assurance or honor the Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports, even though citizens of the Six Nations - Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Mohawk and Tuscarora - have used the passports for international travel for more than 30 years. The Haudenosaunee passports no long meet the stricter immigration rules, the U.S. government said. The team re-booked its flight for Monday, and again for Tuesday while diplomatic efforts were underway to resolve the problem. The delay has cost the team more than $25,000 in expenses. The federal government's refusal to respond immediately stirred a massive international outpouring of support for the Native lacrosse team - who are ranked fourth in the world - from tribal nations, governors, legislators, human rights advocates, thousands of tribal citizens, and more. The controversy generated more than 500 media reports. Lyons said the team was especially grateful to Reps. Dan Maffei, Louise Slaughter, Dennis Kucinich and Gov. Bill Richardson for their efforts to help facilitate a resolution. Lyons also thanked "Avatar" director James Cameron for a $50,000 donation to help the team defray the costs of additional expenses they have incurred in New York City since Sunday while awaiting resolution to the passport issue. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians was the first to jump on board early this week, said Navajo journalist and communications consultant Valerie Taliman, who spearheaded a media and support campaign for the team. "They led the way for financial and political support with their donation of $7,500 on Monday," Taliman said. The controversy even reached across the ocean Wednesday to the international arena of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva where Wilton Littlechild <http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/member_littlechild.html> , who holds the portfolios for human rights and sports at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, was to meet with the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights and ask for an investigation. The team's two-time All-American goalie, Marty Ward, expressed gratitude for the outpouring of public support from the Indian nations, members of Congress, and hundreds of individuals who called the White House and State Department. "Our boys are ready to play, and this is one of the best teams we've ever had," Ward said. "The team is still positive, even though we are tired from being on the road a lot. But this has brought us together as a tighter unit, like a family. With all the hurdles we have to jump over, we really appreciate the support we are getting. It's not just physical preparation, but mental preparation, and a spiritual commitment to play the Creator's game." From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 1:38 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'; 'Keith Hudson' Subject: [Futurework] LaCrosse and the Iroquois A couple of years ago Canada was all hot to trot about a Truth and Reconciliation Commission around the child abuse in the private Native Schools Canada had set up to take the children away. Mike Hollinshead and I wrote and article for them and the government paid us for it but they didn't publish it. We called it "Crossing the Divide." Maybe I'll post it here sometime if there is interest. Anyway, the Canadians and the Americans talk a good game but when the native "Kurds" speak up and assert themselves, Sadaam comes out all over again. Same song one millionth verse. Hard wired? REH Hayley Mick Globe and Mail Update Published on Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 12:50PM EDT Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 12:51PM EDT Some members of an Iroquois lacrosse team embroiled in a passport controversy have been cleared to get on a flight to the sport's world championship in England - but only if they have been born in the United States. "We just got of the phone with the U.S. State department, who are going to clear ... the players who are under their jurisdiction," Percy Abrams, executive director of the Iroquois Nationals, said on Wednesday. Since the U.S.-born players had been cleared, officials from the United Kingdom had promised to issue them a one-time visa, he said. However, whether the team's Canadian-born players would be allowed to travel was still up in the air, he added. "We are going to be making contact with the [U.S. State Department's] Canadian counterparts and hopefully they will offer the same," he said. On Wednesday, the team was rushing to get to Kennedy International Airport in time for their 4 p.m. flight to England, where they will play their first game on Thursday evening in Manchester. Dr. Abrams said he's feeling "optimistic," that the team and their family members will all get on the flight as well, but he added: "nothing's assured." On Tuesday, the 23 members of the New York-based squad arrived at a Delta terminal at Kennedy International Airport wearing team jackets and shirts. Their manager, Ansley Jemison, didn't expect to be allowed to board their flight to Amsterdam and wasn't surprised to be turned away at the check-in desk. The players want to use passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois previously have travelled using those passports. But the U.S. government says that, unlike U.S. passports, the Iroquois passports aren't acceptable under new, stricter immigration rules. U.S. officials previously informed the team that new security rules for international travellers meant that their old passports - low-tech, partly handwritten documents issued by the Iroquois confederacy of six Indian nations - wouldn't be honoured. On Tuesday State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the government had offered team members U.S. passports if they want them. "We are trying to see if there's a way to help them," he said. "The easiest way to accomplish what they want to accomplish is to get them a U.S. passport. We've been willing to do that, you know, for a number of days and we stand ready to do that today." The players regard U.S. government-issued documents as an attack on their identity. With files from Associated Press
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