ANTH 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Oren Lyons, North American Beaver, Great Spirit
ANTH 208 Week Three Lecture Notes
● Video about Oren Lyons, the current ‘Faith-keeper’ of the Turtle clan of the Onondaga at
the time of the making of the video
○ Story of Tree of Peace, allegory for views of clans and spiritual leanings
● Lacrosse big sport, originates among the Native Americans in North America, originally
called ‘the Creator’s Game’ a contest favored by the Great Spirit
● Used to live in NYC moved back to reservation, made faith-keeper back in 1967
● Story goes the ‘peace-maker’ created the system of government the Iroquois currently
have with a spiritual message, create peace between the nations, basically story about
the foundation of the League.
○ Have a whole elaborate story about this involving all the leaders and
peace-keeper banding together and using a spiritual boon to change the leader
of the Onondaga to be the best kind of man who could be and then joining them.
○ Female helps choose the next leader as in keeping with the legend and custom,
plays into matrilineal descent
● Chiefs given instruction that they must prevent environmental destruction with each
generation, and council with the seventh generation to come in mind, thinking far into the
future for those who don’t exist yet
○ Another instruction to enjoy life, sense of perspective?
● Sacred tobacco, metaphorical as well as physical, establishing a bridge between them
and the spirits, etc.
● Every ceremony thanksgivings, move in cycles, children not sat down and taught these
in any school like setting like Sunday School, learn through observing them their whole
life.
● Born with a number of days in hand, die when always going to die
Anth. 208 2/1 Notes
● Morgan’s primary informant was Ely S. Parker, who also wrote prolifically
○ Morgan wrote American Beaver and His Work
in 1869 after League of the
Iroquois
which is one of the founding works of animal behaviour studies
○ Published Systems of Consanguinity and the Affinity of the Human Family
in
1871 looking at blood and marriage relationships, the founding work in study of
kinship systems and british Social anthropology
○ Houses and Houselife of the American Aborigine
after previous works which
looked at social uses of houses and architecture etc.
○ Became invested in the iron district in Michigan which sustained him financially
for a while, also owned a railroad at one point, and began to fund his own field
research in the Missouri River Basin
■ Always looking at social animals and social behaviour of humans
○ Published a book called Ancient Society
in the 1840s that sold very well, as
recommended to him by his friend a minister, which looked at progress and
development that people like Marx, Engels, Freud, and Darwin all looked at.
Document Summary
Video about oren lyons, the current faith-keeper" of the turtle clan of the onondaga at the time of the making of the video. Story of tree of peace, allegory for views of clans and spiritual leanings. Lacrosse big sport, originates among the native americans in north america, originally called the creator"s game" a contest favored by the great spirit. Used to live in nyc moved back to reservation, made faith-keeper back in 1967. Story goes the peace-maker" created the system of government the iroquois currently have with a spiritual message, create peace between the nations, basically story about the foundation of the league. Female helps choose the next leader as in keeping with the legend and custom, plays into matrilineal descent. Chiefs given instruction that they must prevent environmental destruction with each generation, and council with the seventh generation to come in mind, thinking far into the future for those who don"t exist yet.
