Category: Telling Your Story

Today I was exposed to the profoundly impactful film “Game Spirit Pride of a Nation”. The film is about the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee sport of lacrosse, and as I watched I was enlightened furthermore to the history and the treatment of my people. My reaction was incredibly sad to doctrine of discovery and how it was used as an excuse to thieve from and hurt my people hundreds of years in the past, but I was also very disappointed at seeing how this horrible idea is still applied today. However overall the film filled me with an overwhelming pride at seeing the perseverance of my people; even at the face of rejection by the government they were not despondent, they kept fighting on just like they did in their lacrosse games, even after many losses. I believe one day all the attempts of my people will eventually be successful.

Zaryn Prussia

I would say that tonight I learned so much as an indigenous womyn. I had the privilege of watching Spirit Game, a documentary on the history of lacrosse. I think it was very educational for those who don’t know the true history of the sport. OBVIOUSLY I THOUGHT THE PRODUCTION WAS AMAZING. I hope that my fellow camp-mates saw the beauty and integrity as I did while watching. I’m so blessed to have experienced this.

-Aolani

The movie “Spirit Game: Pride of a nation” takes place on the Iroquois Nation in New York. It tells a story about the origin of lacrosse and the history of the Onondaga people. As the story continues, the Iroquois nation gets a chance to play in nationals against other nations. The Iroquois nation at first didn’t have the right to play with the other teams, so they were fighting to get their rightful spot back into nationals. After watching this amazing documentary, I feel inspired because these people fought for their rights to play the game that was their own in the first place. I also feel touched emotionally because not a lot of American history teaches students enough about Native Americans and our culture. Most people who are not indigenous think Native Americans are extinct and that is my greatest fear. The fear of my language dying is very terrifying and this movie has taught me that not to forget who you are and where you come from. This movie has taught me to have pride of who I am.

Woke up this morning, Though I was tired, we started off this morning by learning doing some Indigenous martial arts before breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Pomona College for most of the day. We got a tour of the campus, had lunch there, took writing classes and for me, I was being retaught a different way of using the Nepowantzinzin. We then headed back to campus and after dinner we were fortunate to see Spirit Game: The Pride of A Nation. I loved the film for it’s topic focused on the sport of Lacrosse and it’s approach to The culture and story behind the sacred game. I was rather moved by the film because of the ignorance and undereducatedness of some of the peoples ideas on the Iroquois and their game, for an example, how one of the medicine man of the tribe was denied access to the Pope’s speech due ton his headdress which contained deer horns which the secret services viewed as a threat because it was “Pointed”. I loved the film for what it is and I will share film with friends and family to bring attention to this film.

Today we saw the movie “Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation” and it was a really interesting movie. I really enjoyed every part of it, the game part which was really entertaining and intense. I didn’t only like that part, but the message behind it. It was about the Iroquois reclaiming the game that they have lost during colonization times. The were banned to play the game as part of their assimilation. The movie also talked about the Doctrine of Discovery. The Doctrine of Discovery has changed and shaped history. Many Natives have lost their land because of this Doctrine of Discovery. It is even used today in courts and people have justified their ownership of land through this Doctrine. I like how they interviewed many people in high positions about the Doctrine, especially the pope. My favorite part of the movie was how they always lost. I liked the way they took the L by holding their heads high and being proud for themselves for making it so far. Most of my questions were answered at the end. A question I was going to ask is, why don’t women play Lacrosse? This was answered clear and it made me realize why.

Today was a great day. I am glad to have been able to watch a screening of a great movies called “Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation”. In the movie, I learned that us natives have been discriminated by other countries and beliefs. I loved that the people that are playing the game lacrosse are playing their hearts out.