Haudenosaunee Confederation

If you choose, you can compare or contrast the U.S. Constitution with the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace (the Iroquois Constitution).

Before the Europeans came to Canada, Natives had their own culture, traditions and norms. These differences were obvious to the Europeans who sailed to Canada, their interactions with the Native peoples proved these vast differences. One major difference noted was that the Iroquois organized their societies on different lines than did the patrilineal western Europeans. Iroquois women “by virtue of her functions as wife and mother, exercised an influence but little short of despotic, not only in the wigwam but also around the council fire.” “She indeed possessed and exercised all civil and political power and authority. The country, the land, the fields with their harvests and fruits belonged to her … her plans and wishes modeled the policy and inspired the decisions of council.” The Europeans were astounded by this way of life.

Women also play a very vital role in the Iroquois governing system. In contrast to the society of the United States, the women are looked upon as equals to the men. They are very important in maintaining balance and harmony within the clan. The Great Law of Peace states that the women shall

Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Indians? Sure you have! Just as a reminder, they are the biggest tribe, and most known of out of all the Indian tribes there has ever been in the southeast. They are very important to American History and helped shaped us to be the Americans we are today, which is clearly what I 'll be explaining in this paper. Throughout the paper, I 'll tell you everything you need to know about the Cherokee Indians and continue to relate to the thesis.

Iroquois Confederacy was a band of five tribes from upper New York in the 17th and 18th century. The representatives were the Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Seneca which they call themselves “the people of the lighthouse”. The group was identified by non-aggression pact between the five tribes, recognition of shared concern which brought them closer. The complex of the group as a form

Nothing is more fundamental yet so important to the freedoms we enjoy as Americans as the United States Constitution, which guarantee our right to do and say as we please so long as it does no harm to anyone. The Iroquois Nation preamble is placed on perfect peace for the welfare of the people. Their focus was fighting for the liberty of the people. Among the Indian nations whose ancient seats were within the limits of our republic, the Iroquois have long continued to occupy the conspicuous position. Nations they now set forth upon the canvas of the Indian history prominent as for the wisdom of their civil institution of the federations. Only the Iroquois had a system that seemed to meet most of the demands espoused by the

There are many similarities between the constitution and the principles of the Iroquois. Researchers Vine Deloraia, Bruce Johnson, and Donald Grind have found that the very foundation of both sets of principles mirror each other (Johansen 1998:79):

Cherokee women played an extremely important role in their tribe’s society especially compared to women in America during the time period. In the 1800s, Cherokee women played a much more influential role, impacting the tribe on a daily basis. For example, they were farmers, craftswomen, builders, and in some cases, even warriors. Women were essential to the survival of the tribe. In many cases, the women of the tribes were in charge of gathering materials and building homes for their family to live in. In addition, women would often help men hunt deer, then would skin, cut, and cook the animal. Women also served important purposes in medical circumstances in the tribe. There were plenty of medicine women in the tribes; in fact, many tribes believed that women had more healing power than men.

Since neither the United States nor Native Americans would give up their goals, the government of United States figured that to win Native Americans and get all they wanted, government needed to spend lots of money and time. The United States tried to figure out a peaceful way to communicate with Native Americans. The new workable system fell to President George Washington’s first Secretary of War Henry Knox (p. 10).Henry Knox brought a new relation between Americans and Native Americans. Knox and Washington believed that the “uncivilized” Indian life was based on them not knowing better. On the other hand, their inferiority was cultural not racial (p. 11). In 1791 they announced the Cherokees may be led to a greater civilized society instead of remaining hunters. So women started to weave cloth, these Cherokee planters became rich, and the first law established in 1808 was about preventing the theft horses, also Cherokees invented a system for writing the Cherokee language.

The Iroquois Confederacy was formed primarily as a means of peacekeeping and mediation among the five Iroquois nations and also to form an alliance, especially against foreign powers in the New World. They were highly successful in these goals, mainly because they were able to put up a united front. If you think about it, the smaller tribes were the first ones to be decimated when the Europeans arrived; some died of disease and some died in conflict, but the smaller groups were definitely at a disadvantage. Because the Iroquois were a very sizeable group, they were a force to be reckoned with. They had enough strength in numbers to put up a good fight in conflicts and they had an organized government, especially compared to the other Native

In the Iroquois Dekanawidah is known as “The Great Peacemaker”. He wants the war to between the members and keep the peace. He uses deer antler’s to represent lordship, and plants the tree of the Great Peace to represent peace everywhere. The war between the members of the five nations are causing conflict, while the conflict keeps going on there is no peace. “The smoke of the confederate council five shall ever, ever ascend and pierce the sky so that other nations who may be allies

On the other side was the Union, also known as the Yankees; a group determined to put out the rebels of the South, and preserve the nation that was created in 1776. Like the Confederates, the Union also found support in the memory of the Revolutionary War. Union soldiers fought the “Traitors who sought to tear down and break into fragments the glorious temple that our forefathers reared with blood and tears” (Mc.Pherson 28). If the south was to secede it would have destroyed and undermined the power and authority of the Constitution, and therefore break the union that made up the United States of America. The Union soldiers referred to the Confederates as the “Rebels”, who did not deserve to be part of the united nation for their selfish and inhumane habits, yet their land belonged to the country as a whole. A soldier in the Sherman army wrote to his wife “We want to kill them all off and cleanse the country… their punishment is light when compared with what justice is demanded” (Mc.Pherson 40-41). Union militias could not bear the thought of secession, for they “will be held responsible before God if we don’t

Both sides, the union and confederacy, had different opinions as to what honor for their country. The Union believed that should if they should fail in the fight for preservation of the union all that the original founders fought for would be lost. The Confederacy believed possessions, such as slaves, were part of the right to freedom. This is the main reason North wanted to separate from the confederacy. The division between the North and South were very apparent. The South was primarily fighting for “property and homes” (McPherson 117). On the other hand, the North was fighting for freedom of all men and unification.

The Great Law arose as a solution to a period of troubled times for the Haudenosaunee. It allowed them to travel back from a dark place to recreate a better society. At the moment, America is also dealing with a great deal of suffering due to political and social disagreements. The United States is divided as a country and these rifts stem from self-centered individualistic ideology. It is possible for these quarrels to be soothed by the implementation of Haudenosaunee concepts of Good Mind.

The Iroquois was a culture based on equality. The roles of men and women were different, but each gender shared an equal