The Effect of the Iroquois Constitutionon the United States Constitutionoriginally titledThe United States Constitution: Is it a Native American Myth?

byJanet L. DalyFitchburg State College (1997)The United States Constitution was influenced by the concepts and the principles contained in theIroquois Indian Confederacy form of governance which was founded in Native American mythology.Several different areas must be discussed in order to substantiate this premise that the Native Americansthat arrived on the North American continent around 12,000 years ago did indeed influence the very basisof the United States governmental system which is written in the form of the United States Constitution.One of the first concepts which must be explored is the tradition of the Iroquois League, since the basis of the thesis is that the League tradition preceded and influenced the thinking of the Founding Fathers. Thenext topics must include a discussion of opinions and supporting details that the Iroquoian Confederacymethod of governance did influence the development of the U.S. Constitution and specifically how keycontributors to the writing of the Constitution, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, werebrought into the Native American sphere of thinking. Finally, a comparison of the League Tradition andseveral areas of the U.S. Constitution will show clearly that the "Native American Myth" lives on eventhough the Native American population has been drastically diminished by the very Country which ithelped to found.The Iroquois League tradition was first written down in an Iroquois language format in 1912 byanthropologist Alexander A. Goldenweiser.

This handwritten transcript as dictated by Chief John Arthur Gibson has been recently (1992) newly elicited, edited and translated by Hanni Woodbury in collaborationwith Reg Henry and Harry Webster with the resultant fluently reading legend of the foundation of theLeague of the Iroquois.Chief John Gibson, born in 1849 was "unquestionably the greatest mind of his generation among the SixNations... [who] became the greatest living source on Iroquois culture at the turn ofthe century."

Chief Gibson was appointed a member of a committee of chiefs that undertook the task of codifying the LeagueTradition because of the high regard by his own people forhis knowledge of the League traditions and thevarious rituals connected with them.

What follows is a condensed version of the League Tradition as put forth in the work translated by HanniWoodbury which will provide a general overview of the mythology which lead to the Tradition and thecomponents of the Tradition which allowed a working unification system for the Iroquois Confederacy.This Confederacy contained the original Five Nations of the Confederacy which included the Seneca,Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida and Cayuga and in 1715 increased to Six Nations with the inclusion of theTuscaroras.Feuding and warfare were endemic in the land of the Mohawks which was located on the northern shoreof Lake Ontario. A mother Kahetoktha ("End of the Field") takes her daughter Kahetehsuk ("She WalksAhead") to live in a remote area of bush in order to protect her child. After living there a considerableamount of time the daughter becomes pregnant and the Mother accuses her daughter of wrongdoing.The Mother then has a dream from the messenger of the Great Spirit which reveals her daughter and notbeen with a man and will have a divine birth and the boy child to be born will be called Tekanawitaandhis life will be devoted to promoting peace among men. After the dream message is received the Mother and daughter reconcile and the son is born as prophesied. The boy grows quickly and when he is ayoung man Tekanawita returns to his mother's and grandmother's former settlement to announce to their

people the Good Message (kaihwiyoh), the Power (katshatstehsae) and the Peace (shenu) which are thethree concepts that together spell out the call to unify the separate nations of the Iriquois.

Tekanawita visits the then separate nations and convinces them through demonstrating some miraculousfeats. One such trial proposed by the Mohawk Nation was forTekanawita to sit atopa tree next to theriver. The tree would then be cut down and Tekanawita would be thrown into the cold raging waters. If heemerged the next day alive this would be proof that he was the true messenger of the Great Spirit and theGood Message, the Power and the Peace would be accepted. When he successfully emerges the nextday from the waters the Mohawk tribe is convinced. The five nations are receptive to the message andTekanawita proceeds to frame the central concepts of the Great Law and organizes theConfederacyCouncil on the basis of principles which underlie Iroquois social structure. He divides the five nations intomoieties related to one another as fathers (Mohawk, Onondaga and Seneca) and sons (Oneida andCayuga).

The decision making process which was to be followed involved the Mohawk Nation considering the issueand after a consensus is reached within the Nation, V' the question was to be passed to their moietybrother,the Seneca who reach a consensus. There is to be an attempt to consolidate their decision withthat of the Mohawk. If two groups agree they are to appoint a speaker for the moiety who moves'acrossthe fire'to bring the opinion and the question to the Oneida. The Oneida are to pass the question on to theCayuga and if the two groups reach consensus the issue is to be passed back across the fire to theMohawk who present the outcome to the firekeepers, the Onondagas. The Onondagas then consider theissue andif they agree with the consensus reached by the other four nations, they ratify the opinion.

However, if there are divergent opinions from the Mohawk and Seneca, both opinions are to be handedacross the fire to the Oneida and Cayuga to be considered equally. If the Oneida and Cayuga are split inopinion then both opinions must be handed on to the firekeepers. The Firekeepers can break the tie bychoosing one opinion over the other.If the Oneida and Cayuga agree wit just one of the opinions handedto them by the Mohawk and Seneca, they return this opinion to the latter, and the speaker for the Mohawkand Seneca will present the opinions to the firekeepers, with an explanation of theoutcome. TheOnondaga consider the issue together with the results arrived at among the other nations, and the finaldecision will be announced.

After establishing the vital decision making process to be followed Tekanawita establishes the symbolismof the central hearth, that is the Confederacy fire, "whose smoke will rise, the beautiful smoke, piercingthe sky."

At the central fire he planted a tree-a great white pine-that put forth white roots East, West,North and South. Each nation would contribute one arrow to form a single strong bundle bound together with the sinew of a deer and as joined were to represent the Confederacy solidarity. Tekanawitaaddressed the Nations with the message that all Nations exercise equal authority in the Confederacy andthat as individuals the Chiefs-the tall trunks of the Confederacy-are all equal in status. He then warnedthat if the arrows of the Nations are withdrawn from the bundle that represent the power of their solidarity,the bundle of arrows will weaken.

After describing the basic workings of the Confederacy, Tekanawita called a lengthy recess, andmembers of the council returned to their settlements to inform the people of the Confederacy of theformation and to determine the existing organization of lineages and clans in their respective nations, andto select in terms of their lineage affiliations more candidates for the positions on the council. Fifty titlesare eventually assigned by clan and were assigned as follows-Mohawk-9, Seneca-8, Oneida-9,Cayuga-10, and Onondaga-14.The women of the clan or clan mothers were designated to be theholders of the clan titles and had control in large measure in the choice of successors.

The chiefs appointed wereexpected to maintain certain standards or there was to be a recall process thatwould be followed. At times of stress in the Confederacy, the hereditary Chiefs were to be allowed toappoint a "Pine Tree" Chief who would have special skills or qualities that could be of help to thehereditary chiefs in their difficult tasks. Pine Tree Chiefs were to be appointed for life and their titles werenot to be passed on after their death.

The final major process that Tekanawita was to call for was the orderly replacement of the Chiefs upontheir dismissal or more likely their death. This process was to allow an orderly transition of power withinthe Confederacy. This process consisted of theClan Matron selecting a candidate and the women of theclan approving the selection followed by the chiefs who represent the tribal moiety, then the Chiefs of theNation, then the Chiefs from her side of the Confederacy fire. At the Condolence Council thecandidatewas to be "stood up" for approval by the chiefs of the opposite moiety. The candidate is to be raised up bybeing "crowned with the antlers" of office representing his status as a Chief.

This was then the basic outline of the principles and philosophy of the Confederacy of the Iroquois. Theyagreed to stop fighting amongst themselves and to accept the Good Message that called upon them tofind a peaceful way to resolve issues among the tribes. They were directed by the messenger of theGreat Spirit to uphold certain standards of leadership and to fill vacancies in a peaceful manner. Theywere to stand together so that they may be stronger than one individual tribe.Thereis a plethora of opinion which concurs with the thesis that the Iroquois Confederacy had a stronginfluence on the final document which was to be the law of the land for the United States from itsinception to present day. Some of these sources not only attribute the Iroquois Confederacy withsignificantly affecting the form of the Government of the United States but also with instilling the Americanindependence mentality which would give rise to the impetus to make the initial break from the British.Asthe Indians were standing along the shore watching the Puritans arrive, the Indians carried with thema tradition of meeting and democracy, of free speech, of free thinking, of tolerance for each other'sdifferences of religion, of all those things whichgot attached to the Bill of Rights.

White leaders watchedthe method of government that the Iroquois utilized and they learned union and democracy from it.Historians are now beginning to admit what they must have been aware of, that the government of theUnited States is not patterned after something across the ocean where there was a belief in the divineright of kings and where the people had no voice, but it is patterned after the government ofthe People of the Long House,where all people,including both men and women were respected and took a part in their government.

The interaction between thecolonial Americans and the Iroquois Confederacy began immediately uponthe arrival of the Europeans. The importance of conciliating the powerful Confederacy was fullyappreciated by the colonial authorities and great pains were taken to secure and retain the favor of theconfederacy. Each successive governor announced his arrival to the Sachems of the League, and invitedthem to meet him in council, at an early day, to renew the "covenant chain" or agreement to work together peacefully.

Beginning in the early 1740's, Iroquois leaders strongly urged the colonists to form a federation similar totheir own with the immediate benefit to their interests of having a unified management ofIndian trade withresultant minimization of fraud, and a unity of the two peoples in the face of the "cold war" which wasoccurring between the English and the French.

This urgingbecame a more forceful admonition whenthe Iroquois Chief Canssatego spoke to Pennsylvania officials gathered at Lancaster in 1744 with thefollowing words:Our wise forefathers established Union and Amity between the Five Nations. This has made usformidable; this has given us great Weight and Authority with our neighboring Nations. We are apowerful Confederacy; and by your observing the same methods, our wise forefathers havetaken, you will acquire such Strength and power. Therefore whatever befalls you, never fall our with one another.

A crucial step forward towards colonial American unification necessary for the eventual independencemovement took place in Albany, New York in 1754. The Albany Plan was a landmark on the rough roadthat was to lead through the first Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation and then to theConstitution of 1787.

On the eve of the Albany Congress, Franklin had a great deal of exposure to theimagery and political ideas of the Iroquois from first hand experience andfrom his study of Cadwallader Colden's

History of the Five Nations.

Franklin met with both Colonial and Iroquois delegates to create aplan of unity that was in part derived from some of the tenets of the Great Law of the Iroquois.