Betty Lyons

Onondaga Nation

Gaeñ hia uh, Betty Lyons, President & Executive Director of the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA), is an Indigenous and environmental activist and citizen of the Onondaga Nation. Betty has worked for the Onondaga Nation for over 20 years. Ms. Lyons serves as a member of the Haudenosaunee External Relations Committee and has been an active participant at the annual United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) since the first session in 2001 as a delegate of the Onondaga Nation. Betty attended Cazenovia College and is a Bryant Stratton College Graduate of the Paralegal Program. For her work on Indigenous sovereignty, she received an honorary degree from Onondaga Community College.

Under the Leadership of Tonya Gonnella Frichner, Betty worked closely with AILA since 1997 and joined AILA in 2014. During her time at AILA, Betty has worked on numerous issues, including advocating for the Rights of Mother Earth, Treaty support, educating on the Doctrine of Discovery, advocates for Indigenous Nations and peoples at the United Nations, Right to Self Determination and Sovereignty, teaching the Indigenous history of women’s rights, honoring the Two Row Wampum Treaty in New York City, polishing the Covenant Chain with the United States as part of the Canandaigua Treaty obligations. Most recently, she has been working with the National Institute for Law and Justice on helping families find closure around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S). She believes that communities keep us safe, and it is up to Indigenous communities and their allies to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous relatives (MMIR). Onondaga Nation’s land rights action against the United States was rejected in 2005 by the Supreme Court. However the The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States has agreed to hear the case and it will proceed forward. She is working closely with Onondaga Nation General Counsel Joseph J. Heath and she is hopeful about how it will proceed.

Additionally, she recently helped negotiate the White House’s recognition of the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy and their cultural ambassadors, the Haudenosaunee Nationals. The White House supported the Haudenosaunee nationals competing in the 2028 Olympics, as sovereign and independent participants marching under the flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and traveling on their Haudenosaunee passports. She believes that sovereignty is still the issue for Indigenous nations and peoples. Betty is particularly proud of working to get the Onondaga Nation Health Clinic funded, Tuscarora Health Clinic, and Tonawanda Health Clinic funded.

Betty continues to work for the protection of Indigenous peoples who are fighting to protect their traditions, territories, resources, and care for Mother Earth. In 2024 she is working on facilitating land returns and launching campaign for the return of Onondaga Lake to Onondaga Nation.

Out of her concern for Indigenous peoples and Mother Earth, Betty serves on numerous boards like: Connie Hogarth Center, Center for Earth Ethics, The MOST, Skä•noñh- Great Law of Peace Center Academic Collaborative, she is an Advisory Committee Member for the National Institute for Law and Justice, and is Co-Chair of the Center of Earth Ethics Advisory Board.