An Interview with Rex Lyons | Pt. 3: Words from Rex

An Interview with Rex Lyons

Pt. 3: Words from Rex

Concluding Thoughts and Quotes from Rex

It’s been a long road The Haudenosaunee Nationals have taken since 1983, and they still have a ways to go, yet they have overcome so many hurdles in that short span of time. The constant battle to keep the Iroquois Nationals afloat coincides with the struggle to achieve and maintain national identity in the eyes of outsiders. 

When speaking of the Haudenosaunee Nationals in the beginning, Rex mentioned,

“We were still enjoying lacrosse and making progress, but not as quickly. We were a shoestring operation. We didn’t know how we were getting from point A to point B. We were lucky if we got a brown bag lunch, maybe some gas money. But we would do it. We would do anything like that for lacrosse.”

These are world-class athletes we’re talking about, facing more uncertainty than I ever did when I was playing 5th-grade soccer. These issues present themselves still today to The Haudenosaunee Nationals.

“I think that’s one of the things that people don’t understand,” Rex told me, “people just assumed we were established because we’re metal winners, not realizing that we were sitting on the tarmac in Toronto not knowing if they’re going to let us fly out of the country or not. And then arrive an hour before the game and have to play all jet-lagged because we couldn’t get there.” 

I can barely get out of bed when I’m jet-lagged, nonetheless play a world championship. This is just a testament to not only The Haudenosaunee Nationals’ extreme athleticism but also to their unyielding dedication to their sport and their nation. 

Let the record show the Haudenosaunee themselves never lose sight of who they are, where they come from, or how they got there. Theirs is a story of being the victims of death, violence, genocide, hate, and resiliency. Yet, when Rex walked me through his side of history, the version that isn’t printed in our history books, he still concluded the narrative with,

“We understand why they may have taken that path.” “They” being the colonizers and those denying The Haudenosaunee Nationals a chance to play on international levels. “I think it’s based on fear, which is never a good thing to base any strategy on, in my opinion, over inclusivity. I always emphatically express that we are much stronger together.” 

This notion of inclusivity is expressed in one of the most fundamental symbols of The Six Nations: their flag. The Haudenosaunee flag presents the Hiawatha belt and,

“on either side of those squares, you’ll see a little tab on either side and that is open arms. That suggests that anybody can come join our Confederacy. They can come under the shelter of the tree of peace. And the white roots of peace going in all four cardinal directions around the globe, you can follow those white roots back to the tree of peace and find a place to stay.” 

It’s astounding, despite the lack of respect or even acknowledgment from other nations, generational trauma, and systemic oppression, the Haudenosaunee continue to implement welcoming and warming practices. Rex says this is because,

“At the end of the day, we have to enjoy life. That’s one of our mandates, too, that you’re supposed to enjoy life.”