The Iroquois Confederation constitution: An analysis

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

Volumn 28, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 99-125

  Lutz, Donald S ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0040041740     PISSN: 00485950     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029971     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. The most coherent example of the former group is a book written by a journalist, Bruce E. Johansen, Forgotten Founders: Benjamin Franklin, the Iroquois, and the Rationale for the American Revolution (Ipswitch, MA: Gambit Publishers, 1982). While this book makes a convincing case for Benjamin Franklin's knowledge of and respect for the Iroquois Confederation, Johansen's discussion of the Confederation's constitution is selective, and assumes what is to be established - that the Iroquois Confederation was characterized by democracy, equality among the nations, and a structure that paralleled American institutions. For an incisive critique, see Elisabeth Tooker, "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League," Ethnohistory 37 (Summer 1990): 305-336. The reason for silence on Iroquois influence by historians and political scientists stems from their ability to trace the continuous evolution of American constitutionalism backward from 1787, from document to document, without recurrence to Iroquois or other native American exemplars. See Donald S. Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988); Donald S. Lutz, A Preface to American Political Theory (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992), especially chapters 3-5.
2. The most coherent example of the former group is a book written by a journalist, Bruce E. Johansen, Forgotten Founders: Benjamin Franklin, the Iroquois, and the Rationale for the American Revolution (Ipswitch, MA: Gambit Publishers, 1982). While this book makes a convincing case for Benjamin Franklin's knowledge of and respect for the Iroquois Confederation, Johansen's discussion of the Confederation's constitution is selective, and assumes what is to be established - that the Iroquois Confederation was characterized by democracy, equality among the nations, and a structure that paralleled American institutions. For an incisive critique, see Elisabeth Tooker, "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League," Ethnohistory 37 (Summer 1990): 305-336. The reason for silence on Iroquois influence by historians and political scientists stems from their ability to trace the continuous evolution of American constitutionalism backward from 1787, from document to document, without recurrence to Iroquois or other native American exemplars. See Donald S. Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988); Donald S. Lutz, A Preface to American Political Theory (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992), especially chapters 3-5.
3. The most coherent example of the former group is a book written by a journalist, Bruce E. Johansen, Forgotten Founders: Benjamin Franklin, the Iroquois, and the Rationale for the American Revolution (Ipswitch, MA: Gambit Publishers, 1982). While this book makes a convincing case for Benjamin Franklin's knowledge of and respect for the Iroquois Confederation, Johansen's discussion of the Confederation's constitution is selective, and assumes what is to be established - that the Iroquois Confederation was characterized by democracy, equality among the nations, and a structure that paralleled American institutions. For an incisive critique, see Elisabeth Tooker, "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League," Ethnohistory 37 (Summer 1990): 305-336. The reason for silence on Iroquois influence by historians and political scientists stems from their ability to trace the continuous evolution of American constitutionalism backward from 1787, from document to document, without recurrence to Iroquois or other native American exemplars. See Donald S. Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988); Donald S. Lutz, A Preface to American Political Theory (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992), especially chapters 3-5.
4. The most coherent example of the former group is a book written by a journalist, Bruce E. Johansen, Forgotten Founders: Benjamin Franklin, the Iroquois, and the Rationale for the American Revolution (Ipswitch, MA: Gambit Publishers, 1982). While this book makes a convincing case for Benjamin Franklin's knowledge of and respect for the Iroquois Confederation, Johansen's discussion of the Confederation's constitution is selective, and assumes what is to be established - that the Iroquois Confederation was characterized by democracy, equality among the nations, and a structure that paralleled American institutions. For an incisive critique, see Elisabeth Tooker, "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League," Ethnohistory 37 (Summer 1990): 305-336. The reason for silence on Iroquois influence by historians and political scientists stems from their ability to trace the continuous evolution of American constitutionalism backward from 1787, from document to document, without recurrence to Iroquois or other native American exemplars. See Donald S. Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988); Donald S. Lutz, A Preface to American Political Theory (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992), especially chapters 3-5.
5. Only in this decade has a complete, reliable text become available. See Hanni Woodbury, ed. and trans., with Reg Henry and Harry Webster, Concerning the League: The Iroquois League Tradition as Dictated in Onondaga, ed. John Arthur Gibson (Winnipeg, Manitoba: Algonquian, and Iroquoian Linguistics, Memoir 9, 1992). Over 700 pages long, and very difficult to read and reproduce, this definitive version does not alter any of the institutional description under analysis here.
6. We now remember this tribe as the Mohawk, which means "cannibal" in the Algonkian language, obviously a pejorative name used by other tribes. They knew themselves as the Canienga, or People Keepers of the Flint. We will use the name Mohawk because that is how their fame comes down to us and the name is not pejorative to us.
7. Dean R. Snow, "Mohawk," Encyclopedia of North American Indians, ed. Frederick E. Hoxie (New York: Houghton Mufflin, 1996), pp. 390-391.
8. The word sachem has been translated a number of ways, including "lord," but almost every English term, like this one, introduces unwarranted European connotations. Translated literally, sachem means "keeper of the peace," and since the primary function of the Confederation Council was to end blood feuds and maintain peace between the five nations, it seems appropriate to retain the word untranslated.
9. The number of sachems was not in proportion to the population of their respective nations. Although the matter of numbers is at best approximate, the tribal populations are usually described by the following ratio: Mowhawk - 3,000; Oneida - 1,000; Onondaga - 3,000; Cayuga - 2,000; and Seneca - 7,000. The precise numbers are not as important here as the approximate ratio of tribe sizes. See G. Elmore Reaman, The Trail of the Iroquois Indians: How the Iroquois Nation Saved Canada for the British Empire (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1967), p. 16.
10. Lewis H. Morgan, League of the Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee or Iroquois (New York: Corinth Books, 1962 [originally printed in 1851)), p. 62.
11. The Iroquois tended to recapitulate the basic facts of their existence in the design and construction of their houses as well as in that of the Council meeting lodge, so these musings are not irrelevant.
12. With few exceptions, the anthropological literature concurs with this assessment. For the lack of influence of the Iroquois Confederation on the U.S. Constitution and related documents, see, for example, Tooker, "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League," pp. 305-336; Richard Aquila, The Iroquois Restoration: Iroquois Diplomacy on the Colonial Frontier, 1701-1754 (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1983), especially pp. 30 and 34.
13. With few exceptions, the anthropological literature concurs with this assessment. For the lack of influence of the Iroquois Confederation on the U.S. Constitution and related documents, see, for example, Tooker, "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League," pp. 305-336; Richard Aquila, The Iroquois Restoration: Iroquois Diplomacy on the Colonial Frontier, 1701-1754 (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1983), especially pp. 30 and 34.
14. Observers differ on important details when it comes to the role of royaneh women. Some report that all of the married women in a royaneh family together made the selection. Others report that the matriarch of each royaneh family made the selection. For the latter view, see Elisabeth Tooker, "Women in Iroquois Society," Michael K. Foster, et al., eds., Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984), pp. 109-123, especially p. 114. In one sense, this divergence of opinion is important, because the latter view implies something closer to a true matriarchy. However, for our purposes, we will be more interested in the proportion of families designated as royaneh.
15. Observers differ on important details when it comes to the role of royaneh women. Some report that all of the married women in a royaneh family together made the selection. Others report that the matriarch of each royaneh family made the selection. For the latter view, see Elisabeth Tooker, "Women in Iroquois Society," Michael K. Foster, et al., eds., Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984), pp. 109-123, especially p. 114. In one sense, this divergence of opinion is important, because the latter view implies something closer to a true matriarchy. However, for our purposes, we will be more interested in the proportion of families designated as royaneh.
16. On this point see, for example. J. A. Noon, Law and Government of the Grand River Iroquois (New York: Viking, 1949), p. 29.
17. Morgan, League of the Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee or Iroquois, p. 212. Morgan's data, like much of what exists on the Iroquois, is of too recent vintage to be trusted when attempting to analyze the Confederation's structure a century earlier. Although there is no reason to believe that the distribution of sachems by clan was significantly different in the 1700s, Morgan's figures can be considered only suggestive.
18. The matter of tribal populations is still a subject of controversy. However, most commentators put the Five Nations of the Iroquois at about 12,000-16,000 in the 1640s. The Huron tribes totalled perhaps 35,000; the Algonkian tribes south of the St. Lawrence River, 25,000; the Tobacco tribes, 15,000; and the Neutrals, 12,000. See, for example, Aquila, The Iroquois Restoration, who says the Five Nations' population never exceeded 15,000 during most of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries, pp. 30 and 39; also see, Bruce G. Trigger, The Huron: Farmers of the North (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), especially pp. 11-13 and 18-19. Trigger argues for a probable Iroquois population of 18,000-20,000 before 1640.
19. The matter of tribal populations is still a subject of controversy. However, most commentators put the Five Nations of the Iroquois at about 12,000-16,000 in the 1640s. The Huron tribes totalled perhaps 35,000; the Algonkian tribes south of the St. Lawrence River, 25,000; the Tobacco tribes, 15,000; and the Neutrals, 12,000. See, for example, Aquila, The Iroquois Restoration, who says the Five Nations' population never exceeded 15,000 during most of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries, pp. 30 and 39; also see, Bruce G. Trigger, The Huron: Farmers of the North (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), especially pp. 11-13 and 18-19. Trigger argues for a probable Iroquois population of 18,000-20,000 before 1640.
20. The continuing distinction between democracy and tribalism is frequently addressed by political theorists. See, for example, Dennis C. Mueller, Constitutional Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 44.
21. See, for example, Arend Lijphart, Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), especially Chapter 3.
22. See Aquila, The Iroquois Restoration, p. 35.
23. Annemarie Shimony has a nice discussion of this endemic factional split within the Iroquois leadership in her "Conflict and Continuity: An Analysis of an Iroquois Uprising," chapter nine in Michael K. Foster, et al., eds., Extending the Rafters, pp. 153-164.
24. A number of reasons have been advanced for Iroquois aggressiveness toward neighboring tribes. See, for example, James W. Bradley, Evolution of the Onondaga Iroquois: Accommodating Change, 1500-1655 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1987), especially pp. 108-111.
25. Trigger, The Huron: Farmers of the North, Chapter 6.
26. Even though this supposed advantage in firearms is often mentioned, it is usually put in words that imply the advantage may have been only marginal. See, for example, Aquila, The Iroquois Restoration, p. 37. Also, this "bean counting" approach to military analysis tends to ignore, if not devalue, other important factors such as leadership, morale and motivation, political and military organization, strategic planning, tactics, training and experience, military intelligence, position and terrain, level of popular support, supply, availability of replacements, and preparedness. Finally, weapons have characteristics that are not merely technological. As the Americans would discover later when fighting Indians, muskets were cumbersome and slow to reload in forests where their advantage was also strongly degraded by limited lines of sight. Badly outgunned Indians repeatedly dealt severe defeats to much "better" armed but poorly trained American militiamen.
27. These lines are recounted in Tressa L. Berman's entry on Hiawatha in Encyclopedia of North American Indians, ed. Frederick E. Hoxie (New York: Houghton Mufflin, 1996), pp. 245-246; see also John C. Mohawk's entry on the Iroquois Confederacy for a similar description, pp. 298-302.
28. These lines are recounted in Tressa L. Berman's entry on Hiawatha in Encyclopedia of North American Indians, ed. Frederick E. Hoxie (New York: Houghton Mufflin, 1996), pp. 245-246; see also John C. Mohawk's entry on the Iroquois Confederacy for a similar description, pp. 298-302.
29. This list of characteristics defining a constitution is taken from Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism, p. 16.