Honorary Advisory Committee
Nancy Cantor is the Chancellor of Syracuse University. Under her leadership, Syracuse has focused on “Scholarship in Action” and has initiated the historic Haudenosaunee Promise program to support Haudenosaunee students.
Tonya Gonnella Fricher (Snipe Clan, Onondaga Nation) is President and founder of the American Indian Law Alliance in New York City. She served as the North American Regional Representative to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and played a key role in the passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Jane Goodall PhD, DBE, is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace. Ms. Goodall is a British primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist who revolutionist our understanding of chimpanzees and has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues.
Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee) is President of The Morning Star Institute, a Native American rights organization based in Washington, DC. Suzan was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as a Congressional Liaison for Indian affairs in the late 1970s. In 1992 she initiated legal actions against the Washington Redskins seeking to force them to change their name.
Rick Hill (Tuscarora) is an artist, writer and curator who lives at the Six Nations Community of the Grand River Territory in Ontario, Canada. Over the years, Rick has served as the Manager of the Indian Art Centre, Ottawa, Ontario; Director of the Indian Museum at the Institute of American Arts in Santa Fe, NM; and the Assistant Director for Public Programs at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution; and Manager of the Haudenosaunee Resource Center. Currently he is the Coordinator for the Joint Stewardship Board at Six Nations to develop an environmental interpretation centre and is the manager of the Six Nations Virtual Archives Project.
Oren Lyons is a Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation Turtle clan and has been a clear, persistent and respected voice for the Onondaga, the Haudenosaunee and for Indigenous people throughout the world. He has been present at many of the most significant events for Indigenous people over the last four decades. Lyons was an All-American Lacrosse Goalie at SU in 1957 and 1958 and serves as Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois National Lacrosse Team.
Joanna Macy “Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected voice in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with five decades of activism.”
Joanne Mahoney is the Onondaga County Executive. Ms. Mahoney has demonstrated her commitment to environmental preservation by implementing a green infrastructure program instead of planned sewage treatment plants. She has shown her support for the Onondaga Nation in a variety of ways, including saying “We as a community had a wrong that needed to be righted,” referring to the need to return Wampum belts and other cultural items to the Onondaga Nation.
Bill McKibben is an author and activist who is currently a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. He is a founder
of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009.
Leonard Peltier is a Chippewa/Lakota activist and a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Leonard is one of the longest-serving and most well-known political prisoners in the world. Despite 35 years of imprisonment, Leonard has continued to raise his voice in support of indigenous peoples and protection of Mother Earth.
Tom Porter (Mohawk, Bear Clan) is the founder, director and spiritual leader of the traditional Mohawk Community of Kanatsioheré:ke. Tom has been a key figure in the revitalization of Native languages and traditions. He is the author of And Grandma Said…… Iroquois Teachings as passed down through the oral traditions.
Pete Seeger is a longtime activist and folksinger. Pete founded the Hudson Water Sloop Clearwater and has been involved in a wide range of movements for peace, social justice and environmental preservation for some 70 years.
