In this episode we break down the intricacies of Haudenosaunee government as it may have been before the arrival of Europeans, the episode ends with the story of first contact given from the point of view of a young Mohawk warrior.
This is so interesting to me! I really thank you for explaining this. When I retire I want to study history. I have two sachems in my family tree from the Seneca Nation circa 1600’s. I am learning so much!
Great video and I really appreciate you making the distinction of European and Indigenous "american" worldviews. Can I ask what your sources were for this, or any books/articles you'd say were especially important to your understanding of these topics? Thanks for the great videos!
Is the picture you used of the first encounter of Samuel de Champlain with the Iroquois - known as the Battle of the Mohawks-featured for this segment at Lake George as you stated , or at the site if the present day Fort Ticonderoga in the banks of Lake Champlain ? I believe is the latter … the date in the historical record places it on 29 July 1609 approximately 1 mile north of the present fort at the ferry point to Larabee Point in Vermont
This is near the site of Fort Ti. The early videos are just the audio podcast with a visual or two, this picture serves as a decent visual summation for the whole episode.
Hey, great information. I do have to ask what you think of separation of powers and congress with its two houses. If you understood the haudenosaunee government structure you would see the influence. Both houses must pass the same bill by majority vote and must be passed to the executive branch to be signed. This is the same process that the haudenosaunee government used. There are many more examples. I agree that the u.s constitution is unique. But to say that it wasn’t influenced by native people is a lack of understanding of the intricacies of the haudenosaunee government. I was raised in the longhouse on Onondaga the nation. Respectfully
Two house legislature is English in origin and several English colonies did the same, separation of powers is an enlightenment idea. The Haudenosaunee grand council is a meeting of sovereign nations the powers of government rest with those nations a true Confederacy. The most authoritarian book the founding fathers had on Haudenosaunee government was written by Colden callader, and it was lacking. The great law of peace would not be published until the 19th century, the founding fathers were very ignorant as to how the Haudenosaunee actually functioned.
The notion that the US system was derived from the Iroquois has bugged me for a while. It would be less fanciful if we had retained he Articles of Confederation, rather than adopting a federal system, but still pretty questionable. Especially annoying that a congressional resolution was passed declaring this narrative to be fact instead of conjecture.
Yeah I find the Haudenosaune system so much more fascinating in that it is so different from our constitution. The truth is the framers of the constitution had very little idea of how the clandestine councils at Onondaga were run. They referred to Iroquois representatives as Kings and Half Kings, they were wholly ignorant of the reality, despite Franklin who is often quoted in this manner out of context.
