I have spoken about Oren Lyons in couple of my writings now
because I find him to be a fascinating and unique individual as well as
charismatic. Oren Lyons is Faith keeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga
Nation since 1967. Lyons has led a distinguished life and has had exposure to
both life styles of the white and the Indian Nation. Lyons attended Syracuse University
on an athletic scholarship. He is a lifelong lacrosse player for which he
speaks in depth about in his Bill Moyers documentary. I didn’t know that
lacrosse dates very far back and was originated by the Indians and is referred to as “The Creators
Game” but it does makes sense that most
games we play today came from some tradition many years ago. Lyons graduated
Syracuse with a degree in fine arts and worked in New York City for many years.
Lyons is an advocate for Indigenous Rights and has returned
back to the Onondaga Tribe in upstate New York after his very successful art career.
Lyons speaks of the great peace and about morality and goodness. He speaks of
unity and makes a comparison to 1 arrow vs. a bundle of arrows. One arrow can
easily be broken but 5 arrows tied together are very difficult to break. Lyons
discusses spirituality and expressed that he feels the United States has lost
its spirituality. One other interesting point is that the Indians have a deep
connection to earth and indicates his feelings that the white man is somewhat
short sited and thinks in terms of time in the human being and not the mountain.
In other words, we are not conscious of our implications environmentally and
the effect it will have on our children and future generations.
Another critical issue Lyons speaks to is the issue of
tradition and culture. Lyons indicates that when the language and the people
are destroyed, so goes the knowledge, traditions and customs of those people. I
thought is 1 hour video was insightful, spiritual and very positive. As he
returned to his life on the reservation and reconnected with his people, he
also reconnected with his strong customs and connection to all things in
nature. Great clip and I encourage all to watch.
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