To Survive, We Must Transform Our Values | Oren Lyons

Now I'll start our greeting from the Haudenosaunee, commonly known as the Iroquois Confederation. That's what the French call us. English call us Six Nations. And our proper name is Haudenosaunee, means people of the longhouse. So, I want to thank you for being here, a common cause, and listening to Kenny. And I should say that we should give Nina and Kenny a big hand for their work. It's been a while now with the Bioneers, and we've had our problems with the pioneers, so to speak. But the native people of Turtle Island, that's just the name before Columbus got here. You know, he thought he was in India, so all of a sudden, all of the native people in the Western Hemisphere became Indians. So every time I'm talking with a person from India, I have to apologize to them. You are the real Indians. And it's been like that. Some explorer by the name of Amerigo Vespucci, coming on his sailing ship, had to land here, and they named the whole continent after him. One time. It's amazing. So the whole subject of the native people of what we call Turtle Island, North, Central, and South America now, have never had their history told. They're afraid of it. It's so fierce. It's so bad. Millions of people here at the landfall of Columbus. Millions. And the census that they took in 1900 of the native people in the USA, I'm not talking about Canada now, I'm talking USA and North, 200 and some 50,000 people left from the original millions that were here. We had title to land. This was Turtle Island. And democracy was just rampant here. Everybody was free. We didn't have words. Democracy came over with our relatives from across the water. But we were free. I once talked with our elder clan mother, and I asked her, I said, when did we become Indians? I said, you know, she says, and we're talking about wild Indians. I said, what's that? She says, you know, in our language, we don't have a word for wild. There's no word for wild. In other words, here, Turtle Island, prior to the landfall, we had community. We had community that went all the way to the grass. All the way to little critters that you can't see. They were all part of our community. There was nothing wild here at all. We just had a huge, huge community of life. And so they called us, talking now specifically about the Haudenosaunee, they said, you people are communists. And we said, really? I thought we were underdogas. No, commune, community. That's what you have. And so when they were embarking on to become a country, they had to talk to our leaders at that time. I'm talking about 1775 now. And they knew that we were allies with the English. And they were rebels. They were going to have a rebellion here. But they knew that if we stood up and took arms with the English, there was no way they could have a rebellion at all. The power was with the Six Nations at that time, 1775. And so they came to us, delegation, asked for a meeting in what is now Albany, New York, on the issue. And they explained to us, this delegation, explained to us why they were having this fight with their father. They said, this is a fight between father and son. And they talked about the mistreatment. And they talked about it. It's a long story. It's a long history that I know very few of you out there know about. Because you don't write about the history. They say history is written by the victors. And of course, our people use oral history. And it's a good process. Because in the beginning of our confederacy, we have the discussions of who said what to who. They're thinking now that we're as old as 1,500 or 1,600 years that the Haudenosaunee has been here. They're doing a study right now in Cornell, University of Ithaca, on the origins of the Haudenosaunee. And they're going way back. And they're basing that discussion on an event of nature when the earth covered the sun. And how they're doing that was in the history of our gathering, the great peacemaker gathering the five warring nations at that time, which were the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas. They were fighting each other. And the men were at war constantly, fierce. And the peacemaker came at that time. And it's a long story, so I don't want to get into that part of it because we just don't have the time. But it's quite interesting in terms of what was established at the time when the peacemaker finally gathered these five warring nations together and the very reluctant Seneca said, no, we don't want to join you. And he said, my word, he said, is very, very strong, very truthful. He said, and tomorrow, he said, I'm going to cover the sun. And the next day, there was an eclipse. And the Senecas were very impressed. And they said, you must be who you say you are. And they joined the Confederation. And so they're studying at this point in Cornell and Ithaca College. They're studying that eclipse at that time, and they think it's 1,500, 1,600 years ago. Point being is we've been here a long time. We're old. In 500 years that you've been here, boy, you caused a lot of damage. It's amazing. And it's not over. As Kenny was very explicit about, it's not over. But to put a perspective on things, human beings are like fleas on a dog. You're quibbling amongst yourself. You're squabbling amongst yourself. And the dog is getting ready to shake. And so there's nothing really special about the human beings. There's another species here except our intellect. We have our intellect. And we can make decisions. And these decisions can be made individually. So every morning when all of us wake up, although, you know, with your electricity, you don't have night anymore, 24 hours a day the lights are on. But anyway, when you wake up, you have an option to either be the best in the world or the worst. It's an option. And there's over 8 billion of those options right now. And so the gathering here, you've chosen an option for peace. And peace is the issue. And that's what the great peacemaker said. That's why we call him the peacemaker. He has a name, but we don't use it because at some point we'll call him. And he instructed us. I want to hear when you call so don't put my name up. And so we've had several instances in our history of the Haudenosaunee where we've been shown future and instructions. And the last one was 1799 when a Seneca chief, Kanyo Dayo, called him Handsome Lake, was recovering from drinking because the whole nations were drinking. 1799. And he received a message from spiritual beings. And I won't get into that either. It's a long story. Anyway, we were instructed and given a foresight to what was coming. And from our understanding and observations, everything is right on time. And it's not good. It's not good, and you have to know that. However, it's also not over. And you have to know that. The fight is on. And this gathering here is about the future. It's about peace. And it's about the human element on this Earth at this time. The Earth is quite old and has seen species after species come and go. And we haven't been here that long as a species. Not very long at all. And of course you can see we're pushing the envelope. And if we're so brilliant and we're so smart, how come we're facing this crisis then? Think about that. And as Kenny was pointing out, corporations have more or less taken over the world. And they're all about profit. And this country has, you know, taken that turn. Like when 1775, when the delegates of the Continental Congress coming to the Six Nation Council and saying, we want to make a union like yours. They said in 1744 at Lancaster, there was a big meeting. And the Haudenosaunee was presiding, as we presided on most all the meetings. And all the meetings that were conducted at that time were conducted in our form of how we ran things. I'm talking about the influence now of the Native people on your history that you don't know anything about. But those were very formative years. Those three, four hundred years of interaction before 1775. And so they came to us and they said, in 1744 in Lancaster, you advised us to make a union like yours. We are now taking your advice. We're going to make a union like yours. 1775. How many know that? Raise your hand. See, just a few people. So the question should arise in your mind, how come I don't know that? And you've been denied a history. The American public is ignorant. They're ignorant about the Native people who are here. And all of that history. And all of our civilizations. You know, when the Nina and the Pinta and the Santa Maria arrived here not that long ago, down in what is now South America, they were performing lobotomies. Did you know that? They had the science. No, they didn't know that. They denied that. So what did come over? And that was the Christian doctrine. That Christian doctrine of discovery they talked about came over. Domination. Dominion. Well, I think we're all gathered here to say it ain't over yet. We're here. And my son and Rex are here on their own. I'm not representing the Haudenosaunee in this discussion, although that's been my primary work around the world is to carry the message. And the message is peace. And the Confederacy, when the Peacemaker first put us all together and he finally got us all assembled and they said it took years and years for him to do that. He finally got us together on the shores of Onondaga Lake, which is not Onondaga Lake, but in our language it's where the leaves touch the water. That was the name of it. But that's where our nation was situated. And so it's become Onondaga, Onondaga Lake in upstate New York. And now we're greatly diminished. The Haudenosaunee is greatly diminished, but we're still here. And we're independent. We don't vote because we are our own nation. And we're probably one of the last remaining traditional governments in North Central America, South America, still in charge of governments. And also the principles for which you operate. So the principle, the foundational principle that is operational with the Confederation is peace. Peace. That's our number one law, rule. But that's not what corporations are doing today. And so when the Peacemaker gathered us all at Onondaga Lake at that time, he said, I am planting here a great tree of peace, which is the great white pine. And he said there are four roots going in the four cardinal directions of the earth. And people can follow those roots back to source here and come under the great law of peace. We're still here. And it's not over. And peace is the only answer to the situation that we face today. And it was the answer, and it was the instruction in the beginning. And so we're facing crucial time in two senses. And you've covered that both in the titles of your event here. You're talking about democracy and you're talking about the earth, the smelting. In the year 2000, the Traditional Circle of Indian and Elders and Youth were meeting in Michigan. They were up there in a meeting. And these meetings were about instructing other indigenous nations to get back to their roots. And to get away from what the brother from across the water forced on our nations, which was an elective system. We don't have an elective system. Our system, and on the doggone, I'm very specific to the six nations, the Haudenosaunee. Our system is based on peace. And the process and governance of that system is shared equally between the men and the women. And we have a matrilineal system. Do you understand what that means? Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen hundred years ago, we had a matrilineal system. And it's still there. I'm a wolf. That's my clan. And our system has divided our families so that we have discussions. We have two sides. And on our side, wolf, turtle, beaver, snipe. That's four families on this side. Bear, deer, eagle. And a hawk on that side. And then we take some of each and they put it over here in the middle. And they govern. And then the people sit here. So we have a full circle. And anybody in that circle can speak. And I've seen the time when a ten-year-old girl addressed the council. Because she had that right. And she used it. And she addressed the council. And she laid forward her concerns, which were very legitimate. And we acted upon that. So what I'm talking about is a very democratic process. And we didn't have the word democracy either. And it was just, as a clan mother said, the closest I can come to our way of life in the English word is free. We're free. And that was rampant in North, Central, and South America prior to Columbus. People were free. Independent. And I'll tell you, you didn't go around and order anybody anything. You respectfully spoke to people because they were independent. And they make up their own mind. So what you have today, and you call democracy, is far, far away from that. But what you have today, gathered here, is the right to stand as a community, as a common cause for survival. And what the peacemaker said to us at the time, so long ago, he said, now that you are gathered here, I'm going to plant this great tree of peace. And these four white roots go in the four cardinal directions. He says, and I'm uprooting this tree right here. And I want you men to throw your weapons of war in this hole and let the undercurrents carry them away. Buried the weapons of war a long time ago. And this is a history that you have no idea about. Because it's contrary to corporate power. It's contrary. And I asked a question the other day. I said, this discussion between Republicans and Democrats, what is the issue? Why is there Republicans and Democrats? And who are the Republicans and who are the Democrats? Several questions. And I talked to several people who were kind of in the area, and they said, well, basically, the Democrats are for people, common people, and Republicans are for more organized governance of the state. And so there's this infrastructure that they couldn't settle at the time, so you have Democrats and Republicans still on this issue, which is still in discussion, and which I consider probably forever. It's a constant. Because every generation has to determine for itself what its future will be. So as you sit out there, many young people here now, and I'm so glad to see you here, because we're going to need your vitality, we're going to need your strength, and you're going to need your support for the more thoughtful side of us, how we proceed and how we deal with this eminent discussion on survival of the human beings as a species. That's where we're at. Survival as a species. And there's nothing special about us, except that we do have an intellect, and we've got options, so that's where we are. So nature, as was spoken about, nature, nature's the boss. It's always been the boss, and will ever be the boss. So, there's a lot that I haven't added here, you know, my 94 years on this earth here has given me a perspective that most people don't have. You know, I remember when there was only one car on Onondaga Nation. Everybody was walking or horse and buggy. I could harness a horse and harness plow. And now we got vehicles flying to the moon and beyond, way beyond. So in a very short time, 70 years, we've gone from 2.5 billion people in the world to over 8 in my lifetime. Now, if everything was equitable, I would manage. But as you know, it's not. Not equitable. So we have a great many poor people and very few wealthy people. I've heard their complaints. You know, they do have a complaint. And that complaint is they have to wait in line for a yacht. Imagine. And you got women out there with three kids working two jobs. They got to wait in line for a yacht. So that's the inequity. All right? And that's the reality. But the biggest reality, like I say, is we're like fleas on a dog. And a dog's getting ready to shake. And all of your discussions here amount to nothing. Unless you unify and unite and stand for the future and the seven generations. Seven generations. Those were our instructions and they're valid, extremely valid today. And just my last words now, before Rex drags me off the field here. Every guy's hear about Yogi Berra, the catcher for New York. You know, he says funny things. But there's a lot of truth to something he says, you know. He would say funny things like, he says, well, when you come to the fork in the road, take it. And he said the thing that I listen to him now when he says, he says, well, you know, it ain't over till it's over. And it ain't over. So that's where we are right now.