M1 Journal Post about the Six Nations: The Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth

The web source I am reviewing here is https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/ created by Bruce E. Johansen, Donald A. Grinde, and John Kahionhes Fadden.  The message that I think the source mentioned above is supposed to convey is the importance of the Six Nations to our countries history. Most people don't realize that the United States was built on ideas from the Six Nations. "In our present day, we can benefit immensely, in our quest to establish a government dedicated to all life's liberty and happiness as has been practiced by the Six Nations for over 800 years" (Johansen et al.).

The image is supposed to show the influence of the Six Nations on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. They were inside Independence hall having a meeting to discuss the future of their relationship. The point I want to make is that the Six Nations are amongst the forgotten founders of the United States https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/FF.html.

The information I've read so far has changed my view of native communities. I now view the Six Nations as a major contributor to the United States. Our government model and political system are based on the way that the Six Nations run their own.
This image is designed to portray John Adams defending the Constitution with the Six Nations running in his head. "Adams believed that the American Indian governments collected their authority in one center and observed that in American Indian governments "the people" believed that "all depended on them" (Johansen et al.). You can read more about John Adams defense by going here https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp10.html#fig36. I hope this gets you more interested in learning more about the Six Nations.
reference:
Johansen, Bruce E, et al. The Six Nations: Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth, https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/.

Comments

  1. Richard MitchellSeptember 26, 2019 at 5:16 PM

    I agree that the governments and tribal laws of the Six Nations and other Native American nations have had an impact on American ideals and government and are more often overlooked in our history books. We should not forget that many of the founding ideals of U.S. democracy also come from Western European governments both positive and negative in nature. There were many countries in Europe at that time ruled by corrupt royal dictatorships that the Europeans who fled to North American shores wanted desperately to avoid for their new homeland. There were some early struggling democracies in Europe as well that helped guide the American founding fathers. With all that being said this course should help us better understand the Native American influence in the development of the American nation, good and bad.

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  2. SueR9020September 27, 2019 at 6:55 AM

    I am amazed that we know so little how the Six Nations had such an impact on our founding Democracy. I wonder if at one time it was well known and that over time we wrote this out of the history books. If we go even deeper have we distorted the ideas of the founding to an even greater level today? We utilized the ideas of the Six Nations to begin our democracy but we then pushed the Native Americans to drop their own form of governance to rule over them.

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  3. JM599September 28, 2019 at 2:28 PM

    When we think of how our nation was founded, there is no mention of the Six Nations. In school, all of the history books maintain that there are only eight founding fathers. The Six Nations are not even mentioned, yet they had a major impact on the basic principles in which this nation was founded. It is astounding that the truth of the Six Nations and their influence is kept secret.

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