Daily Orange
By Cooper Andrews
Nestled on the outskirts of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in Nedrow, New York, off Interstate 81 South’s Exit 78 is a quaint diner called Firekeepers, where 95-year-old Oren Lyons spends almost every morning eating breakfast and engaging in daunting philosophical discussions.
On this particular morning, he orders two eggs sunny side up, a heaping pile of bacon — per special request — one pancake and half an order of home fries with onions: a meal fit for a king. Oren is treated like one here, too. He owns the place. Firekeepers employees light up like beams when they see his white Subaru pull into the parking lot. Patrons shake his hand, showing gratitude for his work as a Faithkeeper of the Haudenosaunee’s Wolf Clan.
The restaurant offers Oren a refuge from the troubling trends he sees in contemporary society and the chance to spread wisdom to those who’ll listen.
Haudenosaunee values center around peace and humans’ spiritual connection to the Earth. Yet Oren watches the natural world drifting further away from how his ancestors intended it to be. He sees greed. Inequity. War. Natural disasters. Famine. Everything except peace.
He believes time is running out for mankind to fix the mess they’ve inherited from themselves.
“You look at what’s going on today, with two wars raging overseas and how fast the environment has deteriorated, we’re in big trouble,” Oren said before scooping the last few bites of bacon with his fork. “I estimate on my own personal estimation, it’s not scientific by any means, I would say that 2034 is the point of no return. We need to do something before then.
“But it’s not over. The whole point is that it’s not over.”
Oren’s cynical forecast doesn’t represent what’s inside his heart. For those within the Indigenous community, he’s the de facto peacekeeper and vessel of knowledge for how the world can learn from the Haudenosaunee to solve its long-standing problems. His trailblazing journey — one of Syracuse University’s first Indigenous students, a Faithkeeper for over five decades and the originator of the Haudenosaunee Nationals lacrosse organization, among other achievements — makes him a beacon of influence for Indigenous rights.
On Friday, Sept. 12, Oren and former SU men’s lacrosse head coach Roy Simmons Jr. will receive the Alfie Jacques Ambassador Award, an honor named after the late stickmaker. It recognizes others’ contributions in preserving lacrosse’s native origins; the Haudenosaunee created lacrosse around 1100 A.D. to give thanks to The Creator.
The distinction encapsulates Oren’s tireless effort to create equality between Indigenous folks and the governments they reside in and often suffer oppression from.
Despite thinking the world is slowly slipping away, Oren is always calm. He feels this way, in part, because of the constant roadblocks he’s faced when advocating for his people’s sovereign expression.
He’s been called derogatory names like “forest dweller” when speaking on the floor of the United Nations to educate member countries about Indigenous history. He’s been laughed at when pushing for Haudenosaunee — an Indigenous group whose territory extends throughout parts of central New York, Ontario and Quebec — representation in global lacrosse competitions under their own flag, even though it’s their sport. He’s been told by members of the Russian Federation that it’s “indigestible” for Indigenous people to be considered equals in society.
As the weight of the planet bears down on him, why does Oren keep going?
He wants to leave this Earth knowing he did all he could to preserve Haudenosaunee values — pillars Oren believes can heal the world from strife.