Washington’s Puyallup Tribe and First Nations in Canada hope World Cup partnerships raise cultural awareness

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Yangbin Wu shook his fists in rhythm with the thunderous drumming and singing, his face furrowed in concentration, as he held two “bones” in his hands.

His opponents in an Indigenous game of guessing, strategy and spirituality pointed to the left. Wrong guess. Wu opened his hands and grinned widely, knowing he scored for his team.

The hundreds vying for cash prizes in the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ Stick-Games Tournament wouldn’t be there if not for another game playing out on a much bigger stage in nearby Seattle and other parts of the U.S., Mexico and Canada: the World Cup. The rare partnership is giving the tribe an opportunity to introduce its language, history, culture that the federal government once tried to eradicate to soccer fans around the world.

“It’s pretty cool, with the music and the chanting, it’s like a full sensory experience,” said Wu, a Seattle resident who works in landscaping.

The tribe became the first Indigenous group to partner with a World Cup host city after announcing the agreement in 2023, organizers said. First Nations in Canada announced similar partnerships with Vancouver earlier this year, including Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

Fans have been invited to the tribe’s reservation, which spans about 28 square miles (72.5 square kilometers) south of Seattle, to witness a traditional cultural gathering of dancing and singing that has historically been a part of coastal tribes visiting one another by canoe. A powwow dance displayed colorful regalia in celebration of broader Native American culture. Puyallup also held popular World Cup watch parties.

“It means a lot for us to share who we are to the world,” said Connie McCloud, a tribal elder and the heritage division manager. “People learn about Native people from movies and TVs.” But, she said, that “doesn’t represent the people from Puyallup right here in the Pacific Northwest.”

The stick games last weekend were a test of endurance that, according to Puyallup’s creation story, determined whether humans or animals ruled over one another.

From a parade to the coin toss

In June, the Puyallup Tribe held a World Cup parade. Those who attended the first match in Seattle saw tribal Chairman Bill Sterud do the coin toss in a game that ended in a 1-1 draw between Belgium and Egypt. Fans have also learned the games are being played on the shared ancestral lands of the many tribes of the Puget Sound Villages in a land acknowledgment broadcast on screen. Tribal members taught fans about wood carving and weaving at the stadium.

A World Cup app with games and challenges awards points for visiting the tribe, along with other places, and incorporates the Puyallup language, Lushootseed. In one part of the app, fans have to repeat back “yəhaw”,” which means “let’s go, let’s proceed,” said Amy McFarland, the tribe’s project director for the World Cup.

“You can see people walking down the street, saying ”’yəhaw! yəhaw,’” she said.

The reservation, which lies along the Puget Sound, blends in with Tacoma, along with several smaller communities. The tribe with some 5,000 members, has become a major employer in the county with businesses that include the Emerald Queen Casino. The tribe was also a major player in winning a landmark case in 1974 that affirmed the treaty rights of Northwest tribes to harvest fish.

“We’re not surviving, we are thriving,” McFarland said.

A moment years in the making

The tribe’s connection to the World Cup came indirectly from a longtime partnership with Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders. The team’s former president of business operations, Peter Tomozawa, later became the CEO of Seattle World Cup 2026. He started brainstorming with the tribe about how to work together for the event that has packed the city with fans. The World Cup ends July 19.

Across Washington state, visitors already see cities and waterways named for tribes, signage in Native languages and collections of Indigenous art and businesses. But the new partnership bolstered that visibility for Puyallup.

“This is the biggest spotlight that is shining on our region in a very long time. And who gets included in that, who gets highlighted, I think is a really important question,” said Leo Flor, chief legacy officer at Seattle’s Local Organizing Committee for FIFA World Cup 2026. “I think our region has answered that in a really important way.”

While the tribe is a sponsor for the World Cup Seattle, neither Flor nor the tribe would say what Puyallup contributed financially.

Sterud, the tribal chairman, said he’s hopeful economic opportunities arise out of the newfound visibility. The reservation is on the Port of Tacoma, one of the largest container ports in the U.S.

“Going into possibly international trade is what we’ve been geared up for,” he said. “We’re developing contacts with these different countries and different organizations to move forward in that respect for economic development.”

A game played since the beginning

Josiah Devine Johnson saw ads for the tribe’s World Cup events on buses in Tacoma and decided to check out the Stick-Games Tournament. He tried a “rez burger,” made of fry bread and a burger patty. On the sidelines of the game, he sought to understand its intricacy.

The goal is to win all of the sticks by guessing where the unmarked “bones” are hidden in the opposing team members’ hands.

“I think that’s incredible, to have their own sport, to be showing that off in combination with what’s going on with the World Cup,” said Devine Johnson, who arrived via shuttle. “I see soccer on TV, but you don’t see this. It felt like something I couldn’t miss.”

As Puyallup opens the game to the outside world, one part that won’t be on display is the spiritual aspect, said Puyallup Tribal Council member Amber Hayward. Other tribes have versions of the game as well, used to settle disputes and more commonly played for fun now.

Crowds of mostly Indigenous visitors, some from as far away as Canada, Montana and Utah, squared off Saturday in groups across two large tents. Outside, visitors milled around booths with vendors selling intricately beaded earrings and tribal sweatshirts, while children played on bouncy houses and a soccer field.

The sun went down, and the game was still going early Sunday. Wu’s team won its first three games, going further than he expected, but then lost two more and was eliminated.

“I didn’t think we’d make it out of the first round,” he said.

___ This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Hallie Golden, The Associated Press