Irving Powless Sr, lived from 1905-1985 and was a lifelong resident of the Onondaga Nation. In addition to excelling at lacrosse he also was one of Onondaga’s Traditional Chiefs. He helped to preserve Onondaga’s traditional ways as a speaker in the Longhouse. He played on Onondaga field and box lacrosse teams during his playing career. He played against other Haudenosaunee communities, local colleges in the area such as Syracuse, Colgate, Cornell. He also coached Onondaga field and box teams after his playing days were over.

Irving played professionally in a winter lacrosse league in the mid-1930s for the Rochester Senecas and Syracuse Red Devils. The Championship was called the Ziegler Cup, and he played on one of those championship teams.

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He was known for his ability to create openings for his teammates and was known for his assists during games. He would later tell his grandsons that “an assist is just as important as a goal”. One of the defensive maneuvers during his playing days was the “hip check”. He was very skilled at this check and was known for delivering this devastating check. He taught his son, Irving Jr., this check, which was used to knock down Jim Brown in an exhibition game at Onondaga in 1957.  

In 1932, Irving was on an All-Star Haudenosaunee team that participated in a tournament on Long Island to see who would represent the US in the 1932 Olympic games, as lacrosse was a demonstration sport. They lost to a Johns Hopkins University team by two goals in the tournament final. The Johns Hopkins team went to Los Angeles to play an exhibition series against a Canadian All-Star team. 

After Irving’s playing and coaching days were over, he passed his knowledge of the game to his grandsons. He taught them the spiritual meaning of the game and to always play with respect for the Creator’s game.