This year's fundraising recipient
The Oren Lyons Legacy Archive
Donations gathered through Great Turtle Talks support the preservation of Faithkeeper Oren Lyons's life work — housed at Syracuse University Libraries in partnership with the Onondaga Nation.
Why this archive
Oren Lyons is a world-renowned Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation and Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
For more than fifty years he has carried Haudenosaunee teachings into the widest rooms in the world — the United Nations, global climate negotiations, universities, and countless community gatherings — speaking for Indigenous sovereignty, human rights, and the responsibilities we hold to future generations.
The record of that work is extraordinary: more than 200 linear feet of speeches, correspondence, recorded media, photographs and documents. The Oren Lyons Legacy Archive exists to keep that record whole, and to make it usable — especially for Native communities and for the generations still coming.
The archive is housed at Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center in partnership with the Onondaga Nation, and aligned with the Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice. It is fiscally sponsored by the American Indian Law Alliance.
A letter of support
Former Vice President Al Gore on the Oren Lyons Archive
“Oren is one of the most important mentors and guides I have encountered in my lifetime. I am continually humbled by the gift of his knowledge, leadership, and friendship.”
Writing from the Office of Al Gore in February 2026, the former Vice President offered his wholehearted support for the development of the Oren Lyons Archive and Research Project at Syracuse University. He first met Oren in 1988 at the U.N. Global Forum on Human Survival, where Oren shaped six years of conversation around his clarion call of “value change for survival.”
“Preserving and spotlighting Oren Lyons’ speeches, writings, media, and correspondence,” he writes, “is not only important to establishing his legacy in the broader environmental movement, but also to developing the next generation of leaders in shaping our society at large.” He closes by inviting others to join him in supporting the Indigenous Values Initiative and Syracuse University in this work.
Where your gift goes
Preserve, process, activate
Preserve
Over 200 linear feet of speeches, correspondence, media and documents spanning five decades, stabilized and cared for with culturally grounded stewardship.
Process
Professional curation and cataloguing at Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections, in partnership with the Onondaga Nation.
Activate
Digitization and public access so students, scholars and Native communities can learn directly from this body of work.
Follow the work
Get updates on the archive and the talks
We'll write only when there's something worth sharing — new recordings, event dates, and progress on the archive.
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