Oct 17 2010
Taking A Look At The Legitimacy Of Haudenosaunee Passports
The subject of USA Passports seems to be talked about on the news quite often these days and the Lacrosse Championships brought this issue to the forefront once again. The Iroquois lacrosse team was going to England to compete in the World Championship, but was denied entrance to the United Kingdom because they did not hold regular American or Canadian passports.
While other team members were from Canada and the United States, this team of Iroquois Native Americans is members of the Iroquois Nation. The Iroquois Nation has been issuing their own passports to call attention to the Iroquois culture and heritage. Since they did not have an American or Canadian passport, they were denied entrance into the United Kingdom and could not compete. They were saved at the last minute by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who issued a one-time waiver for the team so they could reenter the United States but the United Kingdom did not validate this waiver.
There are a couple different opinions on the whole situation. One side attests that if theyre a citizen of the United States or Canada, as some of them are, they should be required to get their respective countrys passports just like everyone else. They feel that this team should not be an exception to the rule. Increasingly more countries are turning down these passports because they dont feature the anti-fraud and anti-identity theft features that American passports feature, and this in itself poses a National Security risk as well as a personal risk for the members of the team.
The other side of the argument feels that the Iroquois have been issuing their own passports and traveling on them without any sort of problem in the past. But in the face of recent terrorist attacks and scares, the measures have been tightened, resulting in the current conundrum. The Iroquois Nation is backed by people who claim that its silly to regard some of the top athletes in the world as potential National Security threats.
You many not realize that the game of lacrosse was actually invented by the Iroquois Indians long ago and the fact that their own passport is not being accepted and the team members must get a USA Passport quick to abide by the stricter regulations is demeaning. The coach of the team and others feel this is an attempt to quench the free expression of their native heritage and possibly causing them to be unable to compete in the National Championship of a sport that they created.
There are certainly two sides to every story and regulations concerning United States passports have been put there for a reason. To add insult to injury, about 4,500 sexual offenders were issued American passports in 2008. It is important to remember, however, that the Iroquois natives were not denied an American passport. They were required to get a passport quick and not permitted to use the one issued by the Iroquois Nation. It is easy to see points on both sides of this issue but, above all, national security must be the top consideration.
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