Women’s lacrosse game a first

HAGERSVILLE, Ont. It was like any other game at Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Family and friends dotted the orange and purple stands. Fans pounded drums and whooped with every crosscheck or goal. Impatient spectators shouted “shoot the damn thing!” if a player held on to the ball for too long.

But history was made as Ontario beat British Columbia 8-7 on Monday morning in the firstever women’s box lacrosse game at the North American Indigenous Games, a youth multisport event.

“I felt really proud, it felt really awesome to be part of it,” said Ontario forward Shawnah Albert after the game. “The opening ceremony gave me chills.”

Added her teammate Shkuhnodin Shognosh-Myers: “We felt really connected with our people. It made us feel like home.”

The game between traditional lacrosse powerhouses Ontario and B.C., as well as a game played between Saskatchewan and Eastern Door and the North at the same time at nearby Gaylord Powless Arena, marks a turning point in the sport.

Created by the Haudenosaunee people — commonly called the Iroquois — before Europeans arrived in North America, lacrosse has been adopted by First Nations across the continent as something of a national sport. The Haudenosaunee consider lacrosse to be sacred and refer to it as “the Creator’s game” or “the medicine game” and they believe it has physical and spiritual healing powers.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/CHRIS YOUNG Ontario’s Tawnee Martin shoots on British Columbia goalie Olivia Psaila in women’s lacrosse action during the North American Indigenous Games at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagerville, Ontario, on Monday.