‘Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation’: Film Review
‘Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation’: Film Review
As a red-blooded male, I’m as interested in sports as the next guy. But Peter Spirer’s and Peter Baxter’s documentary about the Iroquois and their passionate devotion to lacrosse admittedly tested my patience. This rambling doc not only covers the history of the sport, but also examines its spiritual aspects to the Native American tribe; includes extensive footage of two championship games; and even has a sidebar
footage from two championship games; and even a sidebar about the 15th-century papal “Doctrine of Discovery” that declared that any place not inhabited by Christians might be freely colonized. It’s a lot of ground to cover, and Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation handles it only sporadically well.
Many of the film’s viewers will be surprised (or perhaps not, given that few people who aren’t interested in lacrosse are likely to see it) to learn that the sport was invented nearly a thousand years ago by the Iroquois, who legend has it that it was played between land and winged animals before humans appropriated it. The Iroquois still regard the sport and its equipment with religious devotion, referring to it as their “medicine game.”
member who hand carves lacrosse sticks from trees he’s cultivated himself and talks reverently about “our direct relationship to the earth.”
The game eventually gained international acclaim, particularly among Canadians, who developed an indoor version. The Iroquois developed their own team, the Iroquois Nationals, in the late 1980s, and despite their small population, they soon progressed to the upper level. However, the team’s standing was harmed by problems such as the Iroquois’ claim to be a sovereign nation – one that was not recognized by the Federation of International Lacrosse. The Iroquois were denied the opportunity to compete in the championship in England in 2010 because the government refused to accept the players’ Iroquois Nation passports.
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