John Arlotta decided to move his indoor lacrosse team from an NHL arena in St Paul, Minnesota, to a minor-league hockey arena in the Atlanta suburbs four years ago because the rent was too high in Minnesota, and because he saw lots of room for growth in Georgia. So the Minnesota Swarm became the Georgia Swarm after 11 seasons, and the Swarm moved south with a critical possession: four of the first six picks in the National Lacrosse League draft, including the first overall pick.

The Swarm made a logical choice with that first selection, taking Lyle Thompson, a forward from the University at Albany. He’d broken the NCAA career records for assists and points, and he’d twice won the Tewaaraton Award, the Heisman Trophy of college lacrosse, the first time jointly with his teammate and older brother, Miles.

The Thompsons are Native Americans from the Onondaga Nation, one of six nations in the Iroquois Confederacy. Besides Lyle, three other Thompson brothers play in the NLL. Miles, 28, and Jerome, 30, are on the Swarm; Jeremy, 32, plays for the Saskatchewan Rush.

Arlotta knew he’d be getting a prolific player in Lyle Thompson, who has scored 165 goals in 75 games for the Swarm in the last four years, led the team to the 2017 NLL title and was the league’s MVP that year. But Thompson also is an ambassador for not just a sport, but for a culture. “I’ve been given a platform,” Lyle Thompson tells the Guardian. “I try to use it, but I don’t overuse it. I don’t like to over-publicize any one thing. I just want to keep my audience listening.”

Native Americans are still very much the heart of lacrosse, the game the Iroquois were said to have first played nearly 1,000 years ago, a sport that is said to have been invented by The Creator, with bear, deer and mammals on one side, and birds on the other.

Seven players on the Swarm roster are Native Americans, including the Thompson brothers and Randy Staats, the team’s second-leading goalscorer. The team regularly hosts youth clinics infused with Native American customs. “The kids love it because they’re unique,” says Arlotta.

Sadly, many people still need educating. During the Swarm’s game against the Philadelphia Wings in January, the Wings’ public-address announcer tried to fire up the crowd by yelling, “Let’s snip the ponytail.”

Lyle Thompson, who wears his hair in a long, braided ponytail, said the comments were particularly disrespectful because Native Americans in the past had their hair cut before they enrolled in Christian schools. “It was upsetting, brought tears to my eyes,” Miles Thompson says. “It was something I hadn’t heard since I was growing up, in high school.”

Lyle Thompson has scored 165 goals in 75 games for the Swarm in the last four years. Photograph: Kyle Hess

Lyle Thompson says, “I didn’t even know about it until after the game. People were looking at me, wondering if I’d heard it.” Asked how he felt after he was told about it, Thompson says, “I guess I wasn’t surprised. I was mad that it bothered me, though. I knew something had to be said. I couldn’t brush it off.” Some fans allegedly said they would “scalp” Thompson too. After the incident, Thompson tweeted, “I know Philly takes pride in their ruthless fans, but I didn’t know it was like that, lol ... now I know.. just haven’t heard stuff like this since HS”.

I know Philly takes pride in their ruthless fans but I didn’t know it was like that lol.... now I know.. just haven’t heard stuff like this since HS https://t.co/efODXZScRb — LYLE THOMPSON (@lyle4thompson) January 13, 2019

The announcer, Shawny Hill, apologized and wrote in a statement that the taunt represented “a lack of knowledge of heritage and history,” but he was fired. Lyle and Miles Thompson said they have received lots of positive support since the incident from fans.

“The Thompson brothers all have done a remarkable job as standout players in our league both on and off the floor,” Nick Sakiewicz, the NLL commissioner, told the Guardian. “They are incredible examples of what a complete professional athlete should be. The fact that they are bringing greater awareness and highlighting their platform of the rituals of Indigenous peoples is another example of the great leaders and people they are. I’ve urged them to continue to educate fans about their traditions and the importance behind them.”

The Thompsons continue to make an impact on the field too. The Swarm have clinched a playoff spot this season and average 6,029 per home game, which is 10th in the 11-team league, but up 35% from 2018. Because of a recent injection of talented young players like Lyle Thompson, the NLL is also growing. Teams in Philadelphia and San Diego were added this year, and teams will be added next year on Long Island, a long-time lacrosse hotbed, and in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Because indoor lacrosse, which is often called “box lacrosse,” is a played on what is essentially a hockey rink covered by artificial turf, it most resembles hockey, though there are also the punishing physical element of football and the pick-and-roll element of basketball. Atlanta has not been a hockey market, having, then losing, two NHL teams, the Flames and the Thrashers. The hockey team that shares the arena with the Swarm is called the Atlanta Gladiators, but the team is a Boston Bruins farm club and a member of the third-tier ECHL. “We still have to make people understand that they’re the third-tier of hockey and we’re the first-tier of lacrosse,” Arlotta says.

But Arlotta says Lyle, Miles and Jerome Thompson have helped the Swarm fill two buckets: one for talent, and, as he says, “the other bucket, which is equally important for me, is the character they have, which emanates through the organization and manifests itself in the clubhouse. Talent is important in an organization, but character wins championships.”

Miles Thompson says having two brothers as teammates “always had been a dream, but it was something we couldn’t control.” Teams can protect only so many players before an expansion draft, so it is possible that Miles and Jerome could play for other teams next year.

“[Having my brothers on the same team] helped me enjoy my job more,” Lyle Thompson says. Miles looks at the wider picture: “Things are changing. And anything that’s growing is something good.”