Category: News
Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land
The Onondaga Nation is petitioning the Organization of American States (OAS) for land rights to Onondaga Lake, a notoriously polluted body of water in Central New York State. The Onondaga Nation is one of six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois), and Onondaga Lake is the sacred site where Gayanashagowa, the Great Law of Peace, was…
A sacred lake, a Columbus statue, and an Indigenous people’s long struggle for land
The nation eventually lost its foothold on the lake, which became polluted in the 19th and 20th centuries as industries dumped mercury, salt and other contaminants into the water. The lake is much cleaner now after restoration efforts, but there are still signs warning that its fish may be harmful to eat. Yet the lake is still…
What are we celebrating with the Erie Canal? A gash in Mother Earth
Looking at the ecocide caused and still being caused by the Erie Canal and Onondaga Lake, we ask ourselves: What does the Erie Canal symbolize? Genocide and ecocide.
Oren Lyons’ endless quest to preserve Indigenous values
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.
Roy Simmons Jr. didn’t just teach lacrosse. He showed others how to love the game.
Few people have had an impact on the sport like Simmons. Forget the 16 straight Final Fours, six National Championships and 290 career wins. Simmons has constantly advocated for lacrosse’s Indigenous roots. He didn’t bore his players with X’s and O’s. Instead, he gave them unlimited freedom, a homage to how lacrosse was first played.
Sean Kirst: For Oren Lyons and Roy Simmons Jr., Alfie Jacques Award all about his knowledge of true value
Lyons and Simmons will receive the award named for their old friend at a dinner on Sept. 12, a Friday, at the Bellevue Country Club. Over the next two days, in an independent celebration, the annual Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Lacrosse Festival — along with the Restore Our Sacred Lake 5k Run — will be held at Onondaga…
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon gives Columbus statue new meaning: bargaining chip
McMahon gives Columbus statue new meaning: bartering chip The Onondaga Nation’s landback effort for a foothold on Onondaga Lake dates back to 2007, when Withers, a local businessman, began organizing a grassroots effort to give the Onondaga Nation a physical presence on their sacred lake. Withers spent years meeting with local and state elected officials,…
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon gives Columbus statue new meaning: bargaining chip
“We’ve given up enough. We have nothing left to give. We have nothing left to offer,” Lyons said. “They have taken all of it. They’ve already taken it all, and so we’re not bargaining.”
Onondaga Lake restoration is far from finished
To the Editor: In response to Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon’s claim that an aquarium is the “perfect use” for Onondaga Lake cleanup funds, I must strongly disagree. The most effective use of these funds is to continue the essential work of cleaning up and restoring the lake itself, rather than diverting public money into…
At a sacred place, ‘mindblowing’ tale of the nesting eagles of Onondaga Lake
Tina Thomas had the chance to watch it from the start, four years ago. She’s been involved for years at Ska-nonh, now under the direction of Emerson Shenandoah — a cultural center developed through a collaboration between the Onondagas, the Onondaga Historical Association and Onondaga County. The goal is telling the story of the Indigenous…
Nuclear Energy is not Green Energy
New York wants clean energy. Is nuclear energy the answer? Heath also argued nuclear energy is not green and poses existential costs to the planet that dwarf the costs of climate change. He grew up in Oswego County, where three of New York’s active nuclear reactors continue to produce energy. From 1968 to 1970, Heath…
