Statement about incident from June 28

The BC Junior A Lacrosse League (BCJALL) is aware of a disrespectful incident which occurred in the June 28 game between the Delta Islanders and Port Coquitlam Saints.

In the first period, a Delta player grabbed a Port Coquitlam player's hair braid and pulled him to the ground. The player who had his hair pulled, Kyren Lazore, is from Akwesasne and is a Mohawk of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. After the incident, the Delta player was released by the team and the league issued supplementary discipline that will apply to this player in all leagues in B.C., including a suspension and a hearing, and a requirement to take part in additional education. The player has expressed remorse for his actions.

Especially as we work together to recognize a history of racist acts and work to move forward with acts of reconciliation and sharing truths, this type of act cannot be tolerated. The BCJALL is working to offer cultural safety and humility training to ensure there is greater awareness of the impacts of incidents like this and to create conversations toward improving cultural safety and awareness within the sport of lacrosse.

In Indigenous culture, braided hair is symbolic. For every Indigenous person who chooses to wear a braid, it can have different meaning. For some, it's a symbol of strength, wisdom and/or honouring ancestors. In a statement below from Lazore, you can read what his braid means to him.

All parties involved hope there can be learning and growth from this incident.

We are all committed in the BCJALL, honoured participants in the Creator's Game, in an ongoing journey toward Truth and Reconciliation.

We talked with Kyren about the significance of this incident and share some words from him about how this impacted him, thoughts on how we can collectively move forward through better cultural humility and awareness, through better education, and through reflecting on how we can integrate these into the sport of lacrosse in Canada and beyond.

Nia:Wen. Thank You.
BCJALL Commissioner Dirk Rachfall

Here are some reflections about the incident from Kyren Lazore:

"It was really disappointing to see and experience something like this. There are various versions of lacrosse, it's a Haudenosaunee game - and people say Indigenous people created the game and say, more specifically, the popular version of lacrosse came from the Haudenosaunee. The thing is, there are variations of the game in each Indigenous community, various that are specific to each culture. The Medicine Game for the Haudenosaunee is the most popular, but we as Indigenous Peoples, we didn't create it - it was gifted to us from the Creator. He did this when he gave us four sacred ceremonies - when he gave us those, the last thing he gave us was a Medicine Game - the game he gifted us tewa'a:raton (pronounced de–wa–ah–lah–doon) which translates to “it has been netted / it is netted.” Another Mohawk name is teiontsikwaeks, which means “they bump hips." And so, culturally, you can see how far we have carried that along just like everything else we have in our culture.

"So given we were gifted this game and shared that with the world. To be mistreated in our own game, that to me is the most disrespectful thing you could ever do - the worst form of disrespect. It baffles me. I don't know what it's going to take to get the message out about the cultural significance of hair to Indigenous Peoples, to know what is right and what is wrong. There are too many instances of racial discrimination against us as people. Some leagues are allowing this environment and allowing this to happen. It's crazy that we still have to educate people on what is right and what is wrong in this day. And, yes, it's frustrating to be on this end of it, to deal with this. I think back to what happened with Lyle Thompson and the incident in the NLL with the verbal abuse he took from the PA announcer - these are signs we need to do better.

"There has been a history of disrespect toward Indigenous Peoples in this game. Those watching down on us would not be happy to see this. We play this game for those who can no longer play, and the last person you play for is yourself. When the game is played pure, it is the purest form you get out of it - games with good goals, games that are played that are clean and crisp and nice and everyone is having fun - that is the medicine, when you feel good after and you leave everything on the floor because of that. The last person you play for is yourself.

"But to be on this side of it and to have to explain, again, that's not where we should be. I wear my hair long because of the cultural significance. There are many interpretations of it and it could be personal to one person. I've been trying to think more about that lately and my inspiration came from the Thompson Brothers - that is who you looked up to growing up in Akwesasne and for my friends in Six Nations - those guys, the Thompsons, you know, they're role models and stewards of the game. They’re the perfect example of how to play the game right - with good conscience and they have dealt with this before, others have dealt with it before, but we shouldn't be dealing with it any more.

"For me, I think, it is who we are before everything, before colonization, before residential schools, this is who we were. To show that's who we are, it's a form of identity for us, that's how I took it for myself, to have long hair, to show yes we are still here and for the kids, and especially for those who were in residential schools, they had long hair before they went. That was who they were, the norm. We've had long hair forever. But for those who went to residential schools, to have their hair shaved off and cut off against their will by White people to assimilate them, to assimilate the Indian in the child. That is why I wear it. The resilience our people have and the amount of stuff they have been through - I want that for myself, I want for them to wear it proudly. That's who we are. 

"You know, it's equivalent to going up to someone on the street to try to take their turban off. It's the same culturally significant example for someone who is non-native to understand. You don't see people doing that. If that happens, it's the same level of cultural disrespect if you will.

"I want for something to happen out of this. It's really difficult and frustrating - we have to reiterate what we have been going through again. History repeats itself - it may be an example of it. So what can we do? Maybe we need a rule change, perhaps, that we could look at this and change this. 

"But there for sure must be an educational piece to this - maybe all people in lacrosse have a requirement for some level of education. Maybe each organization should have a required educational piece and curriculum within the organization where each age group gets taught. That could have a longer lasting effect and create conversation - have an educational effect from the start. When it comes to hate, you don't have that in you to start, you're not born with it; hate is taught. You become a product of your environment. So there's a need to self-reflect internally on why this is going on. I see the education, I see it as something that is required before a player ever steps on the floor.

"Respect isn't given, it is earned. You have to earn the respect back before you step on any floor. That way if anything happens again you can refer back to this. And if they don't follow the rules, they could be punished more.

'Most importantly, I believe that anybody who plays this game, Indigenous or not, has to have a respect for the game before they play. And, especially, non-natives what that looks like, what does that mean to have respect for the game? I think the biggest thing that would push this in the right direction is to understand the cultural significance of the game, its history, its roots, how deep they go, and understand the people it comes from and the people who play. It is not taught in schools and it is not taught when you start to play the game. It takes something like this, an incident when everybody learns - but it should be taught, not waiting for an incident for learning and understanding to take place. Racism and hate are taught, so why can't we teach this? Everyone can learn this and what it takes to respect the game.

'Also it is important to understand the cultural significance of the game, that is the starting point for anyone involved in this game, those playing this game. It's a great game and to understand the roots and how deep it goes and to understand the people it comes from, that will go a long way into understanding native and the Haudenosaunee people - to have a deeper love of the game. 

'We need to understand each other and these conversations need to happen more."