http://www.indigenouspeople.net/orenlyon.htm
Oren Lyons
“When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully because we
know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground.
We never forget them. In the absence of the sacred, nothing is sacred. Everything is for sale.”
Oren R. Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a member of the Onondaga
Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. He is Professor of American Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he directs the Native American Studies Program.
Oren Lyons was born in 1930 and raised in the traditional lifeways of the Iroquois on the Seneca and Onondaga reservations in northern New York state. After serving in the Army, he graduated in 1958 from the Syracuse University College of Fine Arts. He then pursued a career in commercial art in New York City, becoming the art and planning director of Norcross Greeting Cards with 200 artists under his supervision. He has exhibited his own paintings widely and is noted as an American Indian artist.
Since his return to Onondaga in 1970, Chief Lyons has been a leading advocate for American Indian causes. He is recognized not only in the United States and Canada but internationally as an eloquent and respected spokesperson on behalf of Native peoples. He is a sought-after lecturer or participant in forums in a variety of areas, including not only American Indian traditions, but Indian law and history, human rights, environment and interfaith dialogue, and has received numerous honors and awards.
For over fourteen years he has taken part in the meetings in Geneva of Indigenous Peoples of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, and helped to establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, and is a principal figure in the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders, an annual council of traditional grassroots leadership of the major Indian nations of North America. He was a negotiator between the governments of Canada, Quebec, and New York State and the Mohawk Indians in the crisis at Oka during the summer of 1990, and led a delegation of seventeen American Indian leaders which met with President Bush in Washington on April 16, 1991.
A lifelong lacrosse player, Oren Lyons was an All-American in this sport, which was invented by the Iroquois, and the Syracuse University team had an undefeated season during his graduating year. He is currently Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team, which competed in the summer of 1990 at the World Games in Perth, Australia, against the national teams of the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. In 1989 he was named Man of the Year in Lacrosse by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Chief Lyons was the subject of a one-hour television documentary produced and hosted by Bill Moyers, which was broadcast on PBS on July 3, 1991. He has authored numerous books including Exiled in the Land of the Free; Democracy, Indian Nations, and the U.S. Constitution; as well as Voice of Indigenous Peoples (1992), and Native People Address the United Nations (1994), both by Clear Light Publishers, Santa Fe, NM.
Chief Lyons is a tenured professor of American Studies at the State University of New York, Buffalo.
Speeches/Videos
Indigenous Native American Prophecy – Part 2
Indigenous Native American Prophecy – Part 3
Indigenous Native American Prophecy – Part 5
Oren Lyons: Value Change for Survival
“For all of us. I am Oren Lyons, Haudenosaunee, and speaking on behalf of the Indigenous People of North America, this Great Turtle Island. Mr. President, distinguished delegates, Chiefs, Clan Mothers, Leaders and Members of the World’s Indigenous Nations and Peoples, we thank you, The General Assembly, for the recognition and the proclamation of “1993, The International Year of the Indigenous Peoples,” for the theme of, “Indigenous Peoples, a New Partnership.” We thank Madam Chairman Repal Chur (sp?) of the Working Group for Indigenous Populations for consistent, enthusiastic support, and Diaz. And at this time, we recognize the inspiration and spiritual force of Augusto Williamson Diaz, for his vision of such a day as this, and our gratitude to those leaders of Indigenous Peoples and people who also had the vision of this day for our people, who put their blood, their sweat and their tears into this moment. And to those who are no longer here, our profound gratitude and appreciation.”
Lyons was born in 1930 and raised in the culture and practices of the Seneca and Onondaga nations in what is now Upstate New York.
Lyons served in the United States Army. He received an athletic scholarship in lacrosse to Syracuse University, where he was awarded the Orange Key for his academic and athletic accomplishments. He graduated from the College of Fine Arts in 1958. A lifelong lacrosse player, Oren was an All-American at Syracuse, where the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse went undefeated during his graduating year. Athlete Jim Brown, later known for his professional football career, was also on his team.
After graduation, Lyons played for several teams, including the New York Lacrosse Club (1959–1965), the New Jersey Lacrosse Club (1966–1970), and the Onondaga Athletic Club (1970–1972).
Upon leaving Syracuse, Lyons pursued a career in commercial art in New York City, becoming the art and planning director of Norcross Greeting Cards. While working for Norcross, Lyons appeared as a challenger on the February 14, 1960 episode of the popular panel game show What’s My Line?.
Outside of work, Lyons exhibited his own paintings during this time. In 1970, Lyons returned to Onondaga to be closer to his cultural heritage.
In recognition of his contributions over many years as a teacher of undergraduate and graduate students at the University at Buffalo, Dr. Lyons is listed as SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and Professor Emeritus of American Studies in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.
In the 1960s, Lyons joined the Red Power movement and joined the Unity Caravan, which traveled through Indian Country to foster dialogue about traditional tribal values. In 1972, he was a leader in the Trail of Broken Treaties, a caravan to Washington, DC to convince the Bureau of Indian Affairs to honor federal treaties with Native American tribes.
In 1971, during a protest against the expansion of I-81 through the Onondaga Reservation in New York state, Lyons met with singer/songwriters John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The couple wanted to help with the protest, after arriving in Syracuse for Ono’s exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art.
In 1977, Lyons helped create the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth at a meeting in Montana. Since then, the Circle has gathered annually at different sites in Indian country. In 1977, he also was part of the Haudenosaunee delegation of Iroquois representatives to the first World Conference on Racism.
“At first, I wanted to defend the Iroquois. Then my sights broadened to embrace other Indians. Then I saw this had to include defending indigenous peoples all over the world,” Lyons said.
In 1981, he traveled with Stephen Gaskin and Ina May Gaskin to New Zealand to attend an indigenous festival at Nambassa, where he delivered a number of lectures and workshops. At Nambassa he coordinated with Maori land rights activists on questions of indigenous peoples sharing his Native American experiences.
For more than fourteen years he has taken part in meetings in Geneva of Indigenous Peoples of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations. He helped to establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, and is a principal figure in the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders. He was a negotiator among the governments of Canada, the province of Quebec, New York State, and the Mohawk in the Oka crisis during the summer of 1990.
In 1992, Lyons addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations where he opened the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
A highly recognized college lacrosse player at Syracuse University during his undergraduate years, Lyons later became increasingly active as an advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples. He became a professor of American Studies at University of Buffalo.
Oren R. Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan who was raised in the ancient culture and practices of the Iroquois on the Seneca and Onondaga reservations…
in Northern New York State. An accomplished Native American leader, writer, educator, historian, activist, speaker, and organizer, Lyons has spent the much of his life focused on native Indigenous people’s issues in North America. Lyons is deeply involved with national and international issues that affect native peoples and has represented them in many forums throughout the world, including several at the United Nations focusing on the rights and status of indigenous peoples, the environment, and sustainable development. Lyons is a member of the Seneca Nation and of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in New York state.
How is global warming impacting native indigenous people?
It impacts poor people and indigenous peoples are almost always poor, they’re the first ones to suffer. In Africa and Haiti, people are already suffering from global warming and the Arctic is really going down fast. I get reports from Alaska, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Mongolia, the polar caps, it is all the same, it is going down, going down fast. So fast that there’s no transition, no transition for the ice culture to adapt and the animals are caught in it the same way as the humans are. The Inuit of Greenland say that they only give the White Bear 20 more years and the White Bear is now mating with the Brown Bear, so they know. Things are changing quickly. I would expect that in the next two years we are going to be involved in some very serious fires, bigger ones than what was seen this year, and there are going to be bigger storms, maybe one or two Katrina scale storms and that’s going to wake the people up. And then from that point, we may have a chance, but the people have to be slammed hard on the side of the head to where they have to fear. It seems to be the only thing that they’re going to respond to now. They’re certainly not going to respond to common sense. It’s going to take their own personal survival fear kicking in, and if that’s what it takes. We had a string of 139 tornadoes up the center of the United States this past week. Nobody’s ever seen that before, that’s unprecedented. Doesn’t that tell you something? If that doesn’t tell you that we need to be changing from how you’re living your life I would say something’s wrong.
Oren Lyons is a Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan and serves as a Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Peoples. Oren holds the title of Professor Emeritus at SUNY Buffalo, has a Doctor of Law Degree from his Alma Mater, Syracuse University and Lyons Hall at SU is named in his honor. Chief Lyons is an All-American Lacrosse Hall of Famer and Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team. He is an accomplished artist, environmentalist, and author. Oren is also a founder and Principal Partner in One Bowl Productions, a purpose driven film and Television Production Company, located in Los Angeles California. Oren is a leading voice at the UN Permanent Forum on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples, serves on the Executive Committee of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders for Human Survival, acts as Chairman of the Board for both the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and Plantagon, a world leader in GreenHouse Innovation. Recipient of several prestigious awards including; The United Nations NGO World Peace Prize, the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, The Rosa Parks and George Arent Award for environmental and social activism and recently receiving Sweden’s prestigious Friends of the Children Award with his colleague the late Nelson Mandela. Recipient of Green Cross International Environmental Icon Award 2019.
Indigenous Peoples Literature 