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Constitution owes much to Native Americans By Glenn T. Morris Amid the extensive and diverse discussions of the origins and interpretations of the U.S. constitution during its birthday celebration, the inevitable invocation of the names and words of Locke, Montesquie, Madison and John Marshall abound. Conversely, almost never are the names of the Peacemaker, Hiawatha, the Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas or Delaware coupled with the Constitution of in the same vein. Particularly disturbing in such an omission is that some of the most fundamental elements of the U.S constitutional system were, and are, drived from American Indians, especially Iroquois, systems of governance. Unfortunately, most U.S. citizens are ignorant of these pints, but that is not surprising in a society in which more people can recall the names of popular television celebrities than can recount their own freedoms under the Bill of Rights. For those who have never learned of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace, it was fashioned by the Indian leaders, Peacemakers and Hiawatha, long before Columbus became lost and "discovered" an elaborate political system that survives today among the Haudenosaunee of New York state and Canada. It is characterized by a system of broad civil liberties, overseen by democratically selected co-equal branches of government, operating within a system of political checks and balances. Within the structure is a process of legislative debate between an "upper" and "lower" body (similar to the Senate and the House of Representative), with a veto power vested in an executive branch. Integral to the system are the principles of popular sovereignty, freedom of speech, religion and petition, and accountability of political leaders through an impeachment mechanism. Remember, these political principles were in full operation by Indian nations at the same time that Europe was still attempting to extract itself from mercantile monarchy. If any of the concepts sound vaguely familiar, they can all be found in the body or amendments to the Constitution. The historical link between the Great Law and the Constitution rest with Benjamin Franklin. In 1754, Franklin consulted with the political leadership of the Haudeosaunee in developing his Albany Plan of Union, precursor to both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Franklin was so impressed with the Iroquois system that he marveled at a government that "has subsisted Ages, and appears indissolvable." Franklin's design for a grand council under the Albany Plan was taken directly from the grand council for the Great Law, and later became the House and Senate under the Constitution. Although the Albany Plan was never implemented, Iroquoian concepts such as separation of powers, checks and balances, impeachment and a bicameral legislature survived to find themselves in the Constitution. Unfortunately, Franklin's (and other Framer') sex, class and race biases prevented him from integrating more of the Great Law into the founding documents of the United States. For instance, under the Great Law, judicial decisions, including impeachment, are handed down by the women. It would have been a contradiction indeed for the Framers to vest judicial power in women when women were not even allowed to vote under the Constitution. It has been argued that Iroquois women of the 18th century possessed more political power than do women of the United States in 1987. Similarly, slavery was outlawed under the Great Law. Perhaps the most important omission of Franklin and his associates in translating the Great Law into the Constitution concerned the mandate for periodic redistribution of wealth (a concept obviously too threatening to the propertied constitutional framers), and the requirement that political decisions be made with consideration given to the ramifications of those decisions on the succeeding seven generations. Imagine the implications of these Iroquoian principles in just two policy areas of the United States in 1987. Under such a system, there would exist a constitutional prohibition on homelessness and poverty, and nuclear policy could not be implemented without full consideration and deference given to the next seven generations. With the commencement of a new school term in this Bicentennial year, a perfect opportunity exists for history and social studies teachers to resist the temptation to dust off their copies of the Federalist Papers of The Rights of Man, and to provide a novel, honest perspective of the Constitution. In addition to Locke and Madison, also examine Bruce Johansen's Forgotten Founders or the Summer 1987 issue of Akwesanse Notes, available from the Mohawk Nation, Box 196, Rooseveltown, N.Y. 13683. It would be refreshing to know that, after 200 years, the Indian contributions to (and omissions from) the Constitution would finally be recognized, and that through such recognition a serious debate about genuinely integrating the principles of the Great Law into the Constitution might deliver the United States at the threshold of a truly humane and just third century. |
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