Only Canada, the Haudenosaunee Nationals and the United States have finished in the top three places at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships.

[1] Lacrosse for centuries was seen as a key element of cultural identity and spiritual healing to the people of Turtle Island.

The roots of indoor lacrosse are obscure, but its invention has been attributed to one Paddy Brennan, a field lacrosse player and referee from Montreal, who, being annoyed by the constant slowing of play from balls going out of bounds in the field game, experimented with indoor games at the Mount Royal Arena during the early 1920s.

[5][6] It is the only sport in which the American indigenous people are sanctioned to compete internationally, participating as the Iroquois Nationals.

The league played to small crowds on outdoor fields such as Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, before closing midway through its inaugural season.

[12][13] The first box lacrosse match conducted in Australia came about as part of a fund raising appeal for the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne.

[14] After a lightning six-a-side (outdoor) tournament format was successfully carried out a few weeks prior,[15] it was decided to play six-a-side for this exhibition game between MCC and a composite team from other clubs, with players wearing rubber shoes and using a softer ball for the match.

[16] Newspaper articles at the time suggest that the sport may have even been created in Australia, with P. J. Lally of the famous Canadian lacrosse stick manufacturing company requesting a copy of the rules of the game from the VLA Secretary.

[25][26] A few years later, in 1937, the Minto Cup, began being awarded under box lacrosse rules to the junior men's champions.

Thus, by its second year, the original NLL was playing in all major league arenas: the Colisée de Québec, the Montreal Forum, the Boston Garden, Nassau Coliseum, the Spectrum, and the Capital Centre.

[33] The league originated with four teams: the Philadelphia Wings, New Jersey Saints, Washington Wave, and Baltimore Thunder, and unlike box lacrosse generally, was played during the winter.

[43] The playing area of box lacrosse is typically an ice hockey rink during the summer months.

[34] Some leagues, and teams that have dedicated box lacrosse arenas (such as the Iroquois), have outfitted their playing surface with artificial turf similar to the NLL.

Substitution must occur within the designated exchange area in front of the players bench in order to be legal.

In addition, players must advance the ball from their own defensive end to the offensive half of the floor within 10 seconds (8 in NLL).

[43] A two-minute minor penalty is often called for lesser infractions such as slashing, tripping, elbowing, roughing, too many players, illegal equipment, holding, or interference.

Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions that result in intentional injury to an opponent, as well as for fighting.

In addition, game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent.

A penalty shot may also be awarded, at the referee's discretion, if a defensive player causes a foul to prevent a goal (by throwing his stick, holding, tripping, or by deliberately displacing the goal, or a defensive player intentionally falls and covers a ball in his own team's crease).

In Canadian Lacrosse Association play, players are assessed a five-minute major penalty plus a game misconduct.

Fighting in youth or club level box lacrosse is typically penalized with expulsion and suspensions.

In 1990, when the Six Nations created the new Mohawk lacrosse league, fighting was specifically targeted as unacceptable.

Canada West (Coquitlam Adanacs)[29] defeated the Iroquois in the nationally televised world championship game from Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

This was the first time in history that competitors from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas represented themselves in an athletic world championship competition.

[55] The 2015 WILC was hosted by the Onondaga Nation in the United States which marks the first time an international sporting event has been held on indigenous land.

[56][57] Thirteen teams competed in the championship: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Iroquois Nationals, Ireland, Israel, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.

[58] Canada, Iroquois Nationals and the United States have won gold, silver, and bronze respectively in each of the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships held.

Annually, the European Lacrosse Federation holds the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial tournament in Prague.

[50] In 2002 and 2004, the Heritage Cup was played between the United States and Canada featuring mostly players that were members of NLL teams.

[61] Recently, Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and British Columbia have established girls' and women's box lacrosse leagues.