onondaga nation council of chiefs, oren lyons.s, projects with court nader for the campaign and a member of members of the onondaga nation. and we are joined by pete seeger, the legendary 94-year- old folksinger, banjo player, storyteller and activist. for over 60 years, he's been an american icon, author and co- author of so many songs. he has also been a longtime supporter of native american rights. we welcome you all to democracy now! oren lyons, let's begin with you. what is the significance of this day? why paddling up the hudson river to the united nations today? >> today we're celebrating 400 years of association with our friends from across the great waters. four years ago -- 400 years ago we met with the dutch on issues of trade, peace, friendship. we agreed at that time that we would establish a relationship of peace and friendship for as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, as long as the rivers run downhill, and as long as the grass is green. grass is green today and the rivers are running, and so is

, the future for all of us looks very bleak. >> between pete seeger and oren lyons, you've got 177 yearsu have seen a lot of history with the american government and native americans. hen lyons, this is how reportedly reply to the treaty proposal -- can you talk more about the treaty and what you think happened to it, whether it was honored over 400 years in the significance of the belt? >> at this particular time, nation,aunee, onondaga the seneca nation and the cayuga nation are probably the last independent governments still in charge of land and not under the processes of the bureau of and washington, d.c., or the department of indian affairs in canada. we still raise our leaders, as we did before, by consensus and by agreement and by, first of all, having the women choose the leaders. the women have a great deal of responsibility in this process. they not only choose the leaders, but the leaders have to be agreed upon by consensus by the family. until she finds that consensus, then they will agrees to raise that leader. in the council of chiefs will also have that right of consensus