Syracuse stands up for local indigenous people

For the Syracuse Mets, hosting Haudenosaunee Night was a long time coming.

Years ago, the club's general manager Jason Smorol met Oren Lyons, a star lacrosse player at Syracuse University in the 1950s. The accomplished member of the Onondaga Nation is a big fan of the local Triple-A team. Indigenous people have deep ties in the region, and Smorol eventually wanted to pay homage to the native people he had continued to keep in touch with.

“I was just in awe of Oren as a person and what he stands for,” Smorol said.

After Smorol saw a Facebook video of Oren being recognized for the Haudenosaunee’s stance on taking care of Earth, he thought about bringing Oren out to a game for Earth Day. But late April is hardly an optimal time to play baseball in upstate New York, so he had to rethink that plan.

This season, the timing finally worked. The Mets partnered with the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee to celebrate the history and culture of the region’s indigenous people, donning special jerseys that were auctioned off to benefit the Haudenosaunee National Development Group.

“The demand for that jersey -- the giveaway jersey -- the line was huge,” Smorol said. “We do a giveaway pack where we give out an extra 300 jerseys, and we sell those as part of a package. We’ve only sold out of two of those in our history, and one was Haudenosaunee.”

Nearly 7,300 fans were on hand at NBT Bank Stadium on July 22 for the occasion, and a large portion of that group were indigenous people. The Mets worked with the Haudenosaunee to bring in smoke dancers, music and chants not only for the pregame ceremony, but for after the game as well -- the postgame fireworks were set to traditional Haudenosaunee music.

Syracuse even brought out local youth baseball players with ties to the Haudenosaunee to throw out the first pitch.

“The Haudenosaunee people came from all over,” Smorol said. “They really represented themselves that night in the stadium. There were hundreds and hundreds of them from all over. It was really a magical kind of night.”

We were honored to have some friends come and celebrate Haudenosaunee night with us! Pregame ceremonies were amazin 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/rlvpypALlU

— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 21, 2023

If the Mets ever do a theme night like this again, they plan to incorporate native food and more cultural aspects into the celebration. But it’s safe to say the club’s first go at Haudenosaunee Night was a rousing success, and one that Smorol is deeply honored to have been a part of.

“We had a great time. These are the kind of nights that make it good to work in Minor League Baseball,” he said. “I’ll remember that night for a long time.”