Iroquois Indian Nation Quotes

Coping with the French and their Indian allies was a problem for all the American colonies and Franklin was the strongest voice for some kind of union or federation for not only mutual defense, but to facilitate commerce by having some uniform currency and basic laws of trade to promote the mutual economy. The 6 Iroquois tribes had years ago formed the Iroquois nation complete with a formal constitution that maintained tribal identity but also enabled unified action if any were attacked and provided mutual assistance on a number of economic areas. They became the strongest, wealthiest, healthiest and most sophisticated nation of North America before European colonization and unlike many other Indians with a few exceptions–see {21747} for an example–got along very well with the English colonists. Franklin was a great admirer and wanted to use some of their Constitutional provisions in the American Constitution 36 years later, but at the time tried to embarrass many American's into forming a union with language like this quote. Actually, he did not think of them as savages at all, but most Americans who knew little about them did, and Franklin was never above using people's prejudices to get them to buy into one of his political ideas.

The first Native American to become a General Officer. Appointed by President Grant in 1869. When Lee arrived there were many Black troops and he mistook General Parker for a Negro but then apologized saying that “I am glad to see one real American here.” This was Parker’s reply.

The French were at the time much more aggressive traders and the Iroquois Nation had fixed agrarian communities and were very involved in trading. And the French King controlled the military in North America and had ordered the construction of a series of forts to protect their trading interests from the British. However, military affairs in British Colonial America were left to the colonies, all of whom were very parochial and didn't want to raise taxes for much. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Colonial delegates at the conference, had been urging some kind of a federation of the American colonies–{583422} & {35007}. He had used the Iroquois as a model as the 6 tribes had a unified military among other common governmental aspects. However, no colony wanted to give up any of its sovereignty to others or a Federation. Under the prodding of Franklin and the Iroquois, 7 Colonial Delegations agreed to a plan, mostly devised by Franklin�the Albany Plan�for a centralized governmental structure. The Albany Plan was never implemented but it started the process of unification discussion of the Colonies which would stimulate the Articles of Confederation and the Continental Congress.

Brant had an English style Missionary education and was an Anglican, belonging to the Church of England. During the American Revolution, he persuaded most of the Iroquois tribes to fight for the British against the revolutionary colonists. However, the Oneida tribe was not persuaded and joined the rebel side. A few New England Presbyterian missionaries had targeted the Oneida people, and when that tribe chose the “wrong” side, Brant believed that the reason was their different religious point of view. After the Revolution, Brant and his Iroquois followers were driven out of their American lands and escaped to Canada, while the Oneida were given complete title to their lands by George Washington.

“Father of American Anthropology”

The Iroquois had a very successful confederacy of 6 tribes in a relatively democratic government with a written constitution. They dominated the Eastern part of North America for years. The were able to maintain a permanent unity with a unified and decentralized combination of government—much like the United States would become. At the time of this advice, each American colony was a government unto itself. The three Iroquois Indian delegates were Canassatego, Tachanoontia, and Gachradodow.

This was a written form of Constitution of the first democracy of the New World. It was written before the whites came to the land that would become the United States.

During the American Revolution, the Iroquois sided with the British, aiding them militarily and other ways. The revolutionaries responded by attacking and destroying most of the Iroquois who retreated to British Canada.

Actually the Iroquois had a very sophisticated system of regular laws and government some of which was incorporated into our Constitution. However, the Iroquois sided with the British in the American Revolution and at its conclusion, most were driven out of their New York lands and became refugees in British Canada. So by 1816, the Iroquois, the most sophisticated, powerful and affluent of all the American Indian tribes were no longer consequential in America.

Unlike lost other Indian Nations, the Iroquois had years before formed a formal federation whereby each of the six tribes governed their own local affairs, but they spoke and acted as one in governing trade matters, security and foreign policy. This was the main reason that they dominated the other Indian nation. Colonial history is replete with the Iroquois leaders recommending such a confederation to the whites—advice that was finally taken.

The Mohawk, as well as the other Iroquois nations had several interesting democratic elements to their governance system some of which Benjamin Franklin tried to introduce into Pennsylvania and nationally. Particularly interesting is the European perspective of the minister who describes the de facto requirement for a type of plebiscite ratification in derogatory terms referring to the people as “the mob”. Some have argued that at the time the most democratic nation on earth was the Iroquois nation.

Violating these Iroquois “environmental regulations” were not mere technicalities but were enforced by war if necessary. The Iroquois were very sophisticated diplomatically and had appointed Garangula, a chief of one of the Iroquois tribes, to be their Ambassador Plenipotentiary in negotiations with the French.

This was the first written constitution in the Americas.

This was the first written constitution in the Americas.

This was the first written constitution in the Americas. This clause created the first plebiscite in America.

This was the first written constitution in the Americas. This clause’s concept is perhaps the most fascinating constitutional provisions regarding the political role of women in all of history. Essentially, the Iroquois had reserved the right to elect the Lords—representatives of their legislature—to the original founding families of the tribes. Women could not be elected as Lords. However, it was only the women who could vote for the Lords. This is perhaps the only example in history where not only could women vote for the rulers of a society, but only the women could vote. The next clause in the constitution provides that if a Lord resigns or is derelict in duties, the women of the tribe should immediately select a replacement.

Compared to the laws of most other cultures of the world, this clause implemented the diversity concept, There were 14 clans. In a sense it forced intermarriage rather than support tribal style intra-marriage as most cultures do today, limiting marriage prohibitions only to close blood relatives When whites first came to America, the Iroquois, were the most sophisticated Native Americans. They were actually a confederation of 5 different tribes each of which was composed 14 clans. Although fierce warriors, they had agreed not to fight each other and to assist if any were attacked, not unlike NATO. They developed a strong agricultural base, to go with the fishing and hunting, and their confederation merchants were very aggressive and sophisticated traders taking them far from their upstate New York “capitol.” Their governmental structure was quite sophisticated with an elaborate, formal, system of checks and balances, multi-cameral legislatures that recognized numbers of citizens, power and wealth, and even cultural traditions. They were literate, capitalistic and globalist in that they wanted to trade with all. They had written laws, and women had a role that was unique in world history in that only women owned property in a matrilineal society. Further, it was only the Clan Mothers who voted for the 50 Sachems (~Senators)—but their selections had to be accepted by the people they represented. Ironically the descendants of the Iroquois who remained in New York became a very successful Native American group. In the 2000 census, the average Indian in New York State earned the same income as the average White with no Indian gambling money at all.

The purpose was to persuade the Iroquois Indians to stay neutral in the coming conflict with England. Iroquois had traditionally traded peaceably & on many occasions the colonists & Iroquois had fought against the French and other Indians. The colonists appealed to their strong sense of fairness--{610960}. A Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, had traveled to England and been educated there. He persuaded 5 of the Iroquois tribes to join the obvious winner—England. Only the Oneida joined the revolutionists. The result was a civil, fratricidal war of not only white, but also of Iroquois who had been at peace with each other since any could remember. When the colonists won, the Oneida were warmly embraced and participated in colonial life and activities. (A little over 200 years later the average earnings of the Indian in New York State exceeded that of the average white.) The other 5 Iroquois tribes however were driven from their traditional lands. They fled with Joseph Brant to English Canada.

Many of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had invested in land that had formerly belonged to the Iroquois Indians who had sided with the British in the Revolution and been driven up to Canada. They had paid very little and wanted to sell it at large profits. However, there was little gold and silver left in the colonies after the war and there was great reluctance in the rest of the world to lend gold and silver backed money to a new country that did not have a rule of law and courts to collect debts. For example, Madison and Monroe had formed a partnership and bought former Iroquois land near Rome, New York. There was idealism to be sure but there was also self-interest functioning in the secret Constitutional Convention.

Other than the United States, almost all constitutions define citizenship as a matter of birth, geography, ethnicity, and race. What made the Iroquois so successful was that they were bound by ideas and norms of social organization that tended to trump the other variables. When whites first came to America, the Iroquois, were the most sophisticated Native Americans. They were actually a confederation of 5 different tribes each of which was composed if many clans. Although fierce warriors, they had agreed not to fight each other and to assist if any were attacked. They developed a strong agricultural base, to go with the fishing and hunting, and their confederation were very aggressive and sophisticated traders taking them far from their upstate New York “capitol.” Their governmental structure was quite sophisticated with an elaborate, formal, system of checks and balances, multi-cameral legislatures that recognized numbers of citizens, power and wealth, and even cultural traditions. They were literate, capitalistic and globalistic in that they wanted to trade with all. They had written laws, and women had a role that was unique in world history in that only women owned property in a matrilineal society. Further, it was only the Clan Mothers who voted for the 50 Sachems (~Senators)—but their selections had to be accepted by the people they represented. Ironically the descendants of the Iroquois who remained in New York became a very successful Native American group. In the 2000 census, the average Indian in New York State earned the same income as the average White with no Indian gambling money.

Marquis de Seignelay. This shows that the concept of ethnic cleansing has been around for some time. The only thing that prevented the French from implementing the plan was that they couldn’t defeat the Iroquois. There is a certain irony here in that the Iroquois were very much allied with the British even during the American Revolution. After that war, the Iroquois were run out of their traditional lands, not by the French but by the Americans. And where did they go and resettle? Up to then British Canada, the very area where the French so feared them.