Mike Cast / Leader Staff

The American Indian Institute chose the Blue Bay Campground to host its third annual conference of Native American elders and youth this past weekend in Polson.

The Ancient Voices Contemporary Contexts Forum brought in a variety of guests and tribal members for three days of ceremonies, discussion circles and keynote addresses. Among the speakers were: Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation; Tom Porter, the spokesman and chief spiritual leader of the Mohawk community of Kanatsiohareke; Pauline Whitesinger, a traditional matriarch and grassroots leader of the Hopi/Navajo Joint-use Area relocation effort; Joe Medicine Crow, the Crow Nation tribal historian; Johnny Arlee, a spiritual and cultural advisor for the Salish/Pend d’Oreille people; and Oren Lyons, an activist for indigenous peoples across the world, the faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, and the voice of the Iroquois Confederacy.

After being introduced by Mankiller, Lyons spoke in Blue Bay on Saturday morning before other elders and youth of the Tribal community, other participants in the circle, and journalists from Montana to Stockholm, Sweden.

In introducing Lyons, Mankiller remembered his long tenure dedicated to his people and his values. “(Lyons) helped us survive as Indian people, protected our land and our rights, and returned us to our old values,” Mankiller said. “(Lyons) is not only one of the greatest leaders of our time, and has great intellectual skills and also a big heart, but he doesn’t do it with intimidation, he doesn’t do it with fear, but with kindness …”

She called to the people in the conference as if calling upon the entire Native American population to recognize Lyons’ lifetime of accomplishment. “We should applaud him and thank him for what he has done for us for so many years,” Mankiller said of the elder.

On the stand, Lyons spoke slowly and deliberately. His speech accomplished five things: established a mission, a purpose for all that he was working for; addressed the origin of indigenous peoples’ suffering and relations with the invading race; drew the connection between elder Native Americans’ efforts to fight for their rights and modern-day politics; tied in his philosophy and experience to the current global warming debate; and made a call for action.

His monumental purpose was to achieve peace. “… among ourselves, with our nation and with the world that surrounds us,” Lyons said.

Lyons spoke of the time when the Europeans brought to America a notion of private property and the horrible results that migration had on the Native population. He blamed these events on doctrines cast down by England’s monarchy and most of all, the Catholic Church.

He paraphrased the Catholic Pope of 1452, explaining that the United States Supreme Court of the 1800s used this very rhetoric to justify their actions in regards to the Native Americans. “If there are no Christian people in lands across the dark sea then I declare those lands to be empty,” Lyons said.

The battle for recognition has continued ever since and Lyons has written to the Pope demanding the support of today’s Catholic Church and organized a number of conferences with the United Nations, turning the domestic battle for Native American rights in the United States to an international one for the rights of all indigenous peoples on Earth.

In 2007, the work of Lyons and others produced a significant victory in the UN when it adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

But Lyons said there was still work to do politically, calling upon his people to begin by changing the leadership of the country. “Every Indian who votes better get out there and vote, and vote for Obama!” Lyons said. “Americans have the greatest opportunity to exercise their rights, they just don’t do it . . . the score is tied, and it’s how you play. Get out there and play and get your best players on the floor . . . if leaders aren’t working then get rid of them and get new ones.”

Lyons pointed to Switzerland as an example of a prospering society where 94% of the population votes four times per year, and switched the focus of his speech to the environment as he explained how some circles in Sweden had embraced self sustaining methods in the tradition of Native American elders.

He alluded to a Swedish town that had fallen on hard times and rebuilt itself by using renewable resources such as the town’s lake for electricity and local food and dairy.

Moving onto perhaps the main focus of his speech, he turned to the global warming debate. “Global warming is the direct result … of resources rather than relatives,” Lyons said.

He attributed the phenomenon to a lack of regulations, saying that the government needs government and that the business of regulation belongs to the people.

Lyons then offered an explanation for what he took as an irresponsible lack of action in the face of a major problem, juxtaposing the viewpoint of the elders with that of greater America. “The President says leave it to the market. The market has no brains … now we have our result,” he said.

Cutting straight to the reality, Lyons reached out to those who had experienced the elements first hand for support. “Anybody who is a hunter or a fisherman knows nature has no mercy whatsoever. None. If we don’t abide by nature’s rule, we will suffer the consequences,” Lyons said.

A man who had been fighting for change for over thirty years, Lyons switched the topic to change. He had reflected on his past, on all he had been through, but focused on the importance of today. “I think it’s a good fight. I’m up for this one,” he said.

Demanding of individuals what he sought from world leaders, he asked the people to change their own ways. “We have to change our lifestyle … a total change of values and lifestyle for survival.”

Lyons didn’t fight with modern technology, tying it in with the greater goal of following in the steps of the Native American people of old and reducing the human carbon footprint.

“It’s within our ability to do it. It’s within our hands … we must simplify, simplify, simplify . . . technology was given to us by the Great Spirit and we should use it for good,” he said.

Lyons captured the essence of the conference in his speech as he has before in a lifetime spent proving the worth of his people and their rights on Earth.

During the founding of the American Indian Institute, Lyons worked to forge a connection that has lasted for thirty years.

Program coordinator Lisa Sutton evaluated the conference. “It went very smoothly. It was very powerful,” she said.

She said that Lyons’ address rang true to the values of her organization. “It was very effective. It left everyone a lot to think and reflect about,” Sutton said.