Oren R. Lyons

Cheif Oren R. Lyons, Faithkeeper, Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation, Haudenosaunee, Six Nations, Iroquois Confederacy Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, New York. Member of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Oren Lyons 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 international 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.

Chief Lyons is a tenured professor of American Studies at the State University of New York, Buffalo. Through his educational efforts, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution in 1992 that formally acknowledges the contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy to the development of the United States Constitution. 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.

Chief Lyons 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).

Since january 2008 Oren R. Lyons is Chairman of PLANTAGON International AB. He has been visiting Sweden on several occasions.

The unique collaboration between Oren Lyons and the young Swedish singer Simon Hassle in the song Now is here became a reality after a performance by Hassle at the Stockholm Globe Forum Congress in 2010, where Chief Lyons was in the audience.

The speech incorporated by Oren Lyons in the song released in April 2011, is known by many as "The Ice is Melting" speech, and it was originally held by Oren Lyons in August 2000 at the Millennium Peace Summit in the United Nations General Assembly hall. The song Now is here contributes in spreading the important message of Oren R. Lyons and the indigenous people of the world.