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a Social Ethical Analysis of

Chief Oren Lyons's 10 December 1992 address
to the United Nations General Assembly
concerning "The International Year of the Indigenous Peoples" (1993)
with the following theme: "Indigenous Peoples, a New Partnership."

by Theodore Walker, Jr.,

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METHOD

The basic elements of this social ethical analysis are:

Interpretive themes are those basic themes by which human social existence is interpreted or understood.

Populations are specified by space, time, ethnic identity, and other socio-historical and anthropological specifications.

Descriptions are historical and sociological accounts of past and presently continuing circumstances.

Predictions are projections of future circumstances derived from considering the influences of past and present trends.

Visions include predictions plus visions of an alternative more favorable or ideal future.

Prescriptions are social ethical imperatives and public policy recommendations for doing-being differently so as to contribute to a favorably different future.

Each of these distinct yet overlapping aspects include value judgements about what is significant, important, worthy of attention, and good or bad.

Here, in accordance with these basic elements,
we classify selected content from Chief Oren Lyons's 10 December 1992 address to the United Nations General Assembly concerning "The International Year of the Indigenous Peoples" (1993) with the following theme: "Indigenous Peoples, a New Partnership."

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theme:

"Indigenous Peoples, a New Partnership"

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populations (circles of concern):
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description of the past:

"... before the coming of our White Brothers from across the sea. We lived contentedly under the "Gai Eneshah Go'Nah," the Great Law of Peace." (Lyons in December 1992)

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from the past---religiously given prescriptions:

"We were instructed to create societies based on the principles of Peace, Equity, Justice, and the Power of the Good Minds. Our societies are based upon great democratic principles of the authority of the people and equal responsibilities for the men and the women. This was a great way of life across the Great Turtle Island and freedom with respect was everywhere. Our leaders were instructed to be men of vision and to make every decision on behalf of the seventh generation to com; to have compassion and love for those generations yet unborn. We were instructed to give thanks for All That Sustains Us. Thus, we created ceremonies of Thanksgiving for the life-giving forces of the Natural World, as long as we carried out our ceremonies. life would continue. We were told that "The Seed is the Law." Indeed, it is the Law of Life. It is The Law of Regeneration. Within the seed is the mysterious force of life and creation. Our mothers nurture and guard that seed ... we love "I hi do' hah", our Mother Earth ... We were instructed to be generous and to share equally with our brothers and sisters so that all may be content. We were instructed to respect and love our Elders, to serve them ... love our children, indeed, to love ALL children." (Lyons in December 1992)

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prophecies that have come true---description of past & present:

"We were told that there would come a time when parents would fail this obligation and we could judge the decline of humanity by how we treat our children. We were told that there would come a time when the world would be covered with smoke, and that it would take our elders and our children. ... We were told that there would come a time when we could not find clean water ... there would be disease and great suffering. Today we can see this and we peer into the future with great apprehension. We were told there would come a time when, tending our gardens, we would pull up our plants and the vines would be empty. Our precious seed would begin to disappear. We were instructed that we would see a time when young men would pace back and forth in front of their chiefs and leaders in defiance and confusion." (Lyons in December 1992)

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descriptions of the past & present:

"All this has come from across the seas. The catastrophes that we have suffered at the hands of our brothers from across the seas has been unremitting and inexcusable. It has crushed our people, and our Nations, down through the centuries. You brought us disease and death, and the idea of Chrisitan dominion over heathens, pagans, savages. Our lands were declared 'vacant' by Papal Bulls, which created law to justify the pillaging of our land. We were systematically stripped of our resources, religions and dignity.
Indeed, we became resources of labor for goldmines and canefields. Life for us was unspeakable and cruel. Our black and dark-skinned brothers and sisters were brought here from distant lands to share our misery and suffering and death. Yet we survived. I stand before you as a manifestation of the spirit of our people, and our will to survive. The Wolf, our Spiritual Brother, stands beside us and we are alike in the Western mind ---hated, admired, and still a mystery to you, and still undefeated." (Lyons in December 1992)

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message/prophecy--description of modernity:

"500 years ago, you came to our pristine lands of great forests, rolling plains, crystal clear lakes and streams and rivers. And we have suffered in your quest for God, Glory, and Gold. But, we have survived." (Lyons in December 1992)

message/prophecy---description (present circumstance):

"So then, what is the message I bring to you today? Is it our common future? It seems to me that we are living in a time of prophecy, a time of definitions and decisions. We are the generation with the responsibilities and the option to choose the Path of Life for the future of our children, or, the life and path which defies the Laws of Regeneration. Even though you and I are in different boats, you in your boat and we in our canoe, we share the same River of Life ---what befalls me, befalls you." (Lyons in December 1992)

message/prophecy---prediction (if modernity continues):

"And downstream, downstream in this River of Life, our children will pay for our selfishness, for our greed, and for our lack of vision." (Lyons in December 1992)

message/prophecy---prediction (if modernity continues):

"Can we survive another 500 years of "sustainable development?" I don't think so. Not in the definitions that put 'sustainable' in today. I don't think so." (Lyons in December 1992)

message/prophecy---description of present circumstance:

" We can still alter our course. It is NOT too late. We still have options." (Lyons in December 1992)

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vision of an alternative future:

Lyons forsees the possibility of humanity surviving for another 500 years; but only if we humans become "True Partners" with each other and with other life/Creation (Lyons in December 1992) .

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true partnership (solidarity):

Those seeking "a new partnership" with peoples and nations indigenous to Great Turtle Island should be advised that indigenous Native American peoples and nations are dedicated to a "quest for self-determination, justice, freedom and peace in our Homelands and our Territories. Indeed, the quest is a renewal of what we enjoyed before the coming of our White Brothers from across the sea." (Lyons in December 1992)

message/prophecy--- prescriptions (change from modernity):

"We need the courage to change our values to the regeneration of our families, the life that surrounds us. Given this opportunity, we can raise ourselves. We must join hands with the rest of Creation and speak of Common Sense, Responsibility, Brotherhood, and PEACE. We must understand that The LAW *is* the Seed and only as True Partners can we survive." (Lyons in December 1992)

more specific prescriptions:

"There are some specific issues I must bring forward on behalf of our Nations and Peoples. ... the Indigenous People of the Great Turtle Island ..." (Lyons in December 1992). The more specific issues and prescriptions brought forward by Chief Oren Lyons are:

"The issue of nuclear and toxic waste dumps on our precious lands; the policy of finding a place for the waste with the poorest and most defenseless of peoples today. This brings the issue of the degradation of our environment by these waste dumps, over-fishing, over-cutting of timber, and toxic chemicals from mining processes throughout our lands." (Lyons in December 1992)

  • treaty violations

    • "We have with the United States and Canada 371 ratified Treaties and Agreements. The Ruby Valley Treaty of the Western Shoshone is a prime example of what the violation of treaties brings: human rights violations, forced removals, disenfranchisements of traditional people with confiscations of their property and livestock." (Lyons in December 1992)

  • religious freedom

    • "The refusal to recognize and support religious freedoms of our people and the decisions by the (U.S.) Supreme Court ..." (Lyons in December 1992)

  • "violation of Sacred Sites"

    • "This ["refusal to recognize and support religious freedoms"] translates into the violation of Sacred Sites. Mt Graham in the Apache Country is now a project site for an observatory, causing great stress to the Apache People who have depended upon the spiritual forces of this mountain for survival. Ironically, a parner in this project is the Vatican, and even further, it has proposed to name this project 'Columbus.' " (Lyons in December 1992)

  • "appropriation of our intellectual properties"

    • "The appropriation of our intellectual properties is continuous and devastating." (Lyons in December 1992)

  • Land

    • "Land is the issue. Land has always been the issue with Indigenous Peoples. Original title is a problem for all of you. We must try to reach an agreement on a more level playing field that allows us to, at least, a chance for survival." (Lyons in December 1992)

  • Leonard Peltier

    • "Our brother, Leonard Peltier, has been too long in prison. In 1993, to signal a new attitude ---and what better than his release after 16 years ---symbolic of the exercise of dominion over our Peoples." (Lyons in December 1992)


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    most recent update: 24 March 1997
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    NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT: copyright 1997 Theodore Walker, Jr. This copyright covers all content and formatting (browser-visible and HTML text) in this and attached documents created by Theodore Walker, Jr. c@Theodore Walker, Jr.
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