Rex Lyons Moving His Family's Legacy Forward

Rex Lyons stood, cleats buried in the battered grass at the Western Australian Cricket Association Ground, on July 7, 1990, not knowing what to expect or how he’d feel.

A member of the first-ever Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team to play in a world championship, Lyons and his teammates traveled across the globe to showcase the sport that their ancestors originated.

He peered forward at the newly created purple flag of the Iroquois Confederacy — with its Hiawatha belt representing the six nations of the confederacy, surrounding the Tree of Peace — a flag which his father, Oren Lyons, inspired in the mid-1980s.

Then, the national anthem of the Iroquois Confederacy began.

“We were standing there listening to it, having the powers of the world standing there in respect of our national anthem,” Lyons said. “I had goosebumps. This was way bigger than me or anybody else playing lacrosse. This was about our nationhood and us being ambassadors of our nation.”

The moment was seven years in the making after Oren Lyons and a group of Iroquois ambassadors established the Iroquois Nationals (now known as the Haudenosaunee Nationals) in 1983. Rex Lyons, then 17, made the cut for the first Iroquois Nationals team, looking to pave a path in his nation’s history, much like his father once did.

With the eyes of the entire Confederacy on the Nationals, they played to honor the Creator and those who came before them. Along the way, they realized the impact that their presence had allowed for connections they had never imagined.

The Iroquois Nationals met the world’s best lacrosse players. They told their story to Australians unaware of the effort. They bonded with the Aboriginal Australians who came to support a team full of men who shared a spiritual purpose.

“They invited us back to their homeland and asked if they could host a barbecue,” Rex Lyons said. “It was like being with our family. To us, we were just playing lacrosse. To other indigenous nations, it was extraordinary. They could touch it, feel it and see it — everything that they believed in.”

Rex Lyons was part of history in 1990 when the Iroquois Nationals announced themselves to the world. In the decades since, he has dedicated much of his life to making sure the progress for awareness, respect and sovereignty continues for those in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Once simply the son of a great leader and orator, Rex Lyons is now an ambassador in his own right. He’s a former lacrosse legend, a member of the Haudenosaunee Nationals board, a guitarist and vocalist and the leader of the charge to allow the Nationals to play in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Rex Lyons never thought he’d be in the position to help his nation make history again, but some 34 years later, he’s beginning to have a similar impact as his father.

“From Australia, where I felt my ancestors behind me, to now my father handing me the baton to getting to [the Olympics] would be extraordinary,” Rex Lyons said. “Where it goes from there, who can tell? The stick we hold represents the past, present and future.”

Since the day he was born in 1967, Rex Lyons was embedded in the battle for Indigenous rights across North America. While he clutched his hickory stick, given to him at birth, his father traveled the world advocating for his people. Oren Lyons is one of the most influential Native voices in the world, speaking at conferences organized by the United Nations and establishing various Native groups that still exist today.

As Rex Lyons started to understand his father’s influence, he felt pressure. How could he be his own man with the expectations that were placed on him?

“He had cast a huge shadow, which created some challenges for me,” he said. “It was very intimidating to try to measure up to him because I never could. But as I matured, I realized how extremely lucky I was. Unbeknownst to me, I was in this fast lane, and he was teaching at all levels.”

Rex Lyons knew quickly that one thing his father had passed onto him was the ability to not only play lacrosse, but excel at it. He was a member of the Nationals at 17, joined the Rochester Knighthawks of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (now the National Lacrosse League) and competed in Senior B with Onondaga Athletic Club.

He also shares the gift of artistry — only Rex Lyons expressed himself musically. He’s a vocalist and guitarist, performing across New York before founding Fabulous Ripcords in 2003. The band has traveled as far as Boston and New York City to perform at Blues festivals annually. Rex Lyons sits on the board of the New York State Blues Festival.

Despite the success both on the field and on the stage, Rex Lyons stayed grounded. The lessons that his father instilled had resonated with him. His health and the health of those closest were his priorities.

“He was very adamant about trying to get me off that express lane I was looking at — fancy, shiny success that we aspire to,” Rex Lyons said. “He said I had to come to my own conclusion. Now, I have pictures of my two granddaughters at my desk, because I understand that their well-being is more important to me than anything else.”

Rex Lyons had already made a name for himself despite the shadow that was cast, but he wanted to continue looking after his confederacy. With his playing days long behind him, he joined the board of the Haudenosaunee Nationals with the goal of taking the team for which he once played to new heights.

Since joining the Nationals, Rex Lyons has traveled the world helping shine light on the history of the team, and of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as a whole. He spoke in Ireland at the World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship in 2022, in San Diego as part of the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in 2023 and at other conferences across the country. He also spoke out when the Haudenosaunee were originally excluded from The World Games field in 2022.

Recently, he became one of the leading voices in the charge to allow the Nationals to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — a process that is ongoing but for which he is hopeful they can find a solution.

When President Joe Biden spoke out on behalf of the Haudenosaunee Nationals, saying that “they should be granted an exception to field their own team at the Olympics,” it was part of a presentation written by Rex Lyons.

“We couldn’t have imagined this as one of the mile markers targeted when they were talking about creating an international team to forward our sovereignty and self-determination,” Rex Lyons said. “Now you’ve got one of the highest offices in the world recognizing us and giving us an endorsement to play in the 2028 Olympics under our own flag.”

As much as the endorsement is a milestone in the push for progress, Rex Lyons said he knows there’s more work ahead to make sure the Nationals can compete in 2028.

He continues to gather information on his Nation, the lacrosse program and how both are woven into the fabric of the Haudenosaunee — all to make sure the International Olympic Committee has everything it needs to decide on the nation’s eligibility. With IOC President Thomas Bach stepping down after 11 years, Rex Lyons said he will have to be proactive in informing the next president about the Haudenosaunee and their fight for inclusion.

The goal for Rex Lyons is to make the story of his people as widespread as he can, sharing the gift of lacrosse with those who need it across the world. The Olympics would, of course, be the greatest platform the Haudenosaunee Nationals have had to share that story.

As for the chance that history can be made in four years? Rex Lyons couldn’t say for sure, but he’s feeling good about the Haudenosaunee Nationals.

“[My confidence level] is right up there at 98 percent,” he said. “There’s a small chance we could find ourselves on the outside looking in, but I was expecting a much more challenging process to this point. I thought there was going to be pushback, and it’s been much the opposite. Handshakes and hugs and, ‘How can we help?’”

If the Haudenosaunee Nationals make it to Los Angeles, Rex Lyons will be there — although he’ll be watching history unfold as a fan. If history is made, millions of fans will get to see the Haudenosaunee flag, listen to the national anthem, see the traditional dances and learn more about the First Nations.

“We don’t have to choreograph anything,” Rex Lyons said. “This is who we are. When you see us coming and you talk about pageantry — we come in with our full regalia, we come in with our dance and our song. That’s who we are and that’s who lacrosse is.”