Lineal Descent Quotes
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.
This was the first written constitution in the Americas.
