Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, tireless advocate for indigenous rights and sovereignty issues, professor, author, publisher, painter, father, and grandfather, stood before us and shared the insights he had gained as representative of the traditions of his people. The occasion was the Twenty-Fourth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, October 2004 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Chosen by Clan Mothers as Chief of the Onondaga Nation, his voice sounded a clear note of authentic leadership for our time.
We are honored that Chief Lyons’ remarks on that day, edited by Hildegarde Hannum, are now available as a Schumacher Center lecture pamphlet. The entire address may be read for free online or it may be ordered in pamphlet form. Alexandra Penny chose the following quotes from “The Ice Is Melting” for you to read and consider.
Quotes from “The Ice Is Melting” by Chief Oren Lyons
What I say to you today is that the ice is melting in the North as we speak, trees are tipping, the roads are buckling, buildings are falling in. From what? From the permafrost melting. Perma. Permanent frost. No, not so permanent. It’s melting right now.
Whatever happens to us will not have any impact on the world. In time, the world will regenerate. It will come back green, and the waters will be clean again. It’s just that there won’t be any people here. That’s all. We’re not needed. We’re parasites. We don’t help the Earth, we take. So if all the people disappear, then the Earth is going to regenerate because there’ll be peace here again.
The second message I bring you is that global warming is real. It is imminent. It is upon us. It’s a lot closer than you think, and I don’t think we’re ready for what’s coming. We’re not instructing our people, we’re not instructing our children, we’re not preparing for what is coming. And it surely is coming. We’ve pulled the trigger, and there is nothing we can do now to stop it. The event is underway.
Animals live in a state of grace; they do no wrong. They do only what they’re supposed to do. They try, they persevere. In New York City I saw geese going overhead, flying the same path they flew a thousand years ago. They have to fly higher, but they’re still going over. Hawks go right by, the same way. Fish travel in the same place. They’re still doing what they can, the best they can, despite the bad air and the bad water around them. That’s what we did to them Now we have to do better. We’ll be lonesome without them. Being survivors and who we are, we’ll be the last to go.
The founding fathers of this country, Jefferson and Madison and Franklin, all talked about natural law. It was common-day usage for them. It was part of their vernacular to talk about natural law, and they knew what they were talking about—because they learned from us! Natural law prevails. Either abide by it or suffer the consequences. I haven’t heard any reference to natural law coming from an administration in a long time. That’s how far we’re drifting from reality. We’re drifting, and it’s costly. We have to get back on course. The chiefs, and I personally, feel that we have not passed the point of no return. Not yet, but we’re approaching it. And the day when we do pass that point, there will be no boom, no sonic sound. It will be just like any other day.
We don’t lead by telling people what to do. If you want people to pick something up off the ground, you start picking it up yourself, and pretty soon somebody’s going to help you. You lead by example. That’s the best way to inspire, by example. There’s no short cut.
You have to meet challenges, and as you move along, it’s like crossing a stream on stones. We’ve all done that. You can see some stones and you can’t see others, but at some point you have to make the run. And as you jump from one stone to the other, you’re always looking for the next jump. Most of the time you make it. Not all of the time. Sometimes you come to the kind of situation where there’s not going to be a safe move at all. You’re not going to get an answer. People want answers, but there aren’t really many answers except to keep looking and to become active. If you stick to the principles that you have to guide you, that’s about the best you can do.