As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, join us as we take a look back at the life and career of former men's lacrosse student-athlete Mikko Red Arrow. 

A Freeport, NY native and part Cherokee and Lenape, Mikko Red Arrow joined the Hofstra men's lacrosse team after transferring from Towson. He played as a midfielder for the Flying Dutchmen for two seasons, culminating in receiving USILA All-America Honorable Mention honors in 1984. Following his playing career with Hofstra, Red Arrow suited up for the New York Saints for five seasons and played for the Iroquois Nationals in 1984 and 1986.

When his playing career came to a conclusion, Red Arrow remained active in the sport of lacrosse as an official, officiating in some of the biggest lacrosse events in the country, including this past summer's Major League Lacrosse bubble season. Red Arrow is currently an Assistant District Attorney for Iredell County in Morrisville, North Carolina, and serves on the Advisory Board for the Premier Lacrosse League. 

You originally attended Towson before transferring back to Hofstra. What was behind that decision?

The person that I respected the most was Tom Cheska, my high school freshman team coach, and we talked about where I should go. I had gotten into Rutgers, but I didn't matriculate, and I had to come home because one of my parents got sick. He suggested to me that I go to Hofstra, and I said 'ok.' I forget how it happened, but my conduit was Ron Fraiser, and he introduced me to Coach Harry Royle. The rest is history.

I was in a hurry to get off of Long Island and go out on my own, as a rebellious teenager, but being at Towson wasn't a good fit for me. I wish I went to Hofstra for all four years. Looking back, having grown up on the south shore of Long Island, Hofstra's environment was better for me compared to Towson and being in Baltimore.


What was your favorite memory from your time as a student-athlete at Hofstra?

It would probably be the bus ride home from my final game. We had just beaten Navy, 14-13, in an absolutely wild, back-and-forth kind of game. I can't tell you how many lead changes there were during that game, but it was back-and-forth all day. I scored the tying goal late in the game and Tim Goldstein ended up scoring the winner. And that bus ride home with the team was so much fun. It was sad because it was my final game in a Hofstra uniform, but that game and the bus ride back was very special.


You were named an All-American in 1984. What did it feel like to receive that honor?

I didn't even know I was up for it, so it was a complete surprise. There was an alumni game shortly after our season ended, and we were all having fun and it was exciting to see everybody. I went to face-off against Kevin Huff, and Coach Royle was in the booth announcing the game. He says over the PA 'we've got an All-American face-off' and I thought he was talking about Huff because he was a three-time All-American. Kevin turns to me and congratulates me and I said to him 'I don't know what you're talking about, I think that's meant for you'. When he said that I made it, I couldn't believe it. I found out it was official from reading the newspaper.

It was a completely different time back then to what it is now. I'd have probably been told and congratulated a bunch of times before I stepped out on the field if that had happened today.


Being a Native American and being involved in a sport that was invented by Native Americans, what does it mean to you to see some of the best players in the world be Native American and to see the sport reach new levels of mainstream popularity?

It's been awesome to see, and it was always a mystery to me why this hasn't happened earlier. I'm glad that so many more opportunities have opened up for Native players to play at the college level. It's literally our game!

When I was in Denver for the World Games in 2014, Mark Martin and I were the representatives for the Iroquois Nationals on the officials side. We were out with some other officials and one of them said to me 'Look at all these American officials and Canadian officials. You guys are the creators of the game, why aren't there more Native American officials?' And we just said because we like to play too much!

Like I said, it's been amazing to see and we can only hope for more in the future, but there's still some ways to go for us in the modern game.


You're an Assistant District Attorney in North Carolina and one of the top officials in the lacrosse world. How did you become involved with law and officiating?

When I first started law school, for the first two-and-a-half years I kept thinking 'why am I here and what am I doing', because my plan was to become a police officer or get into the FBI. I have a lot of love and respect for Coach Royle, because he really cared about us as people. He's the one that asked me what my plan was after Hofstra and we talked about what I was majoring in. I majored in criminology at Towson, which Hofstra didn't have, so I switched to sociology, which was pretty close to what was offered at Towson.

I had tested very well and applied for positions all over, but there was a hiring freeze and that shut that plan down, so I decided to start law school. The week before I was supposed to start classes, I got a call from the Freeport Police Department that they were offering me a job, and Nassau County PD called me right after that with a job offer. I had already committed to law school and I wanted to see it out, so I turned them both down.

I didn't really begin to enjoy being in law school until I took a class in trial advocacy, and it was like the sky opened and someone said to me 'there you go, this is what you were meant to do'. I really enjoyed being in a courtroom, and the DA's office gave me the best opportunity to do that. I don't know how well I would have done in a different kind of environment like corporate law.

The primary reason I officiate is to remain involved and active in the game that has been such a big part of my life. It's great that I've been able to remain involved in the game since my playing career ended the way that I have.


What was it like to play for the Iroquois Nationals?

It was an honor and a privilege to play with them. Sure enough, Coach Royle played a part in me getting onto that squad. We were both heading to the All-America Banquet before the North-South All-Star Game, where he was coaching and I was playing for the North team, and his family was coming down there for the week so we had to leave early.

We're driving down and he brings up Sid Jamieson, the Bucknell head coach, and if I knew him. I knew of him; we played Bucknell when I was at Towson. And Harry goes 'he was asking if you were interested in playing for the Iroquois Nationals', and I didn't know what that was. Harry explained to me what the Nationals were and I said 'heck yeah, sign me up!' I flew up to Buffalo shortly after and played with those guys. I got to meet so many terrific lacrosse players like Greg Tarbell, Mark Burnam, Emmett Printup, Travis Solomon; there so many great players that I had the opportunity to play with that were Native Americans, like me!


What does it mean to you to be a part of the Hofstra family?

It makes me feel proud and honored. I don't know a whole lot of other people that have such a brotherhood-like network that has been promoted at Hofstra. Coach Royle started it, then John Danowski bumped it up a notch, and Coach Tierney has taken it to a completely astronomic level.

Our networking has allowed us to keep in touch with one another. When I lost my daughter, Seth reached out to me to offer condolences, and they wore her initials on their helmets the following season. It's truly is another family; I consider the Hofstra family an extension of my family.