The Federation of International Lacrosse U19 World Championship takes place this week in Scotland—but the Haudenosaunee women’s team won’t be playing. That’s because the U.K. rejected the Haudenosaunee passport.

The Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois, is a confederacy of six nations—the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora—who live in what’s now the United States and Canada, which is known as Turtle Island to the people indigenous to the land. As a sovereign confederacy, the Haudenosaunee issues its own passport, and although it’s unrecognized by the U.K., that same passport is allowed for travel to other parts of the world, including other nations in Europe. Most players on the Haudenosaunee Nation Women’s Lacrosse don’t have a U.S. or Canadian passport because those are not the primary nations they belong to. Because of the U.K.’s decision, the Haudenosaunee Nation Women’s Lacrosse team won’t be able to attend the world tournament.  

The Haudenosaunee have been playing lacrosse forever. Their creation story says the game was first played in the spirit world, where it was handed down by the Creator. The game caught the attention of early white settlers and is now played around the world. 

This isn’t the first time the Haudenosaunee passport has been rejected for a world championship: the men’s team was turned away from playing in England in 2010.

(h/t ICTMN)