The Six Nations: : Oldest Participatory Nation Democracy on Earth

I explored the website link The Six Nations: Oldest Participatory Nation Democracy on Earth. It contained many intriguing links. On the first page of the site, two images immediately caught my attention. The first shows Iroquois chiefs in the meeting hall of Continental Congress on June 11,1776. The chiefs had been formally invited to join the debate over gaining American  independence. President Hancock was given an Indian name "Karanduawn, or the Great Tree" by an Iroquois chief after Congress granted their permission. The Indians were referred to as "brothers" and the desire for the natives and non natives to work together was expressed.  I do not recall learning about this event in school. I found it interesting that Native Americans were invited and involved in such a memorable time in our country's history and that their influence and input was valued during an event that changed our nation.

from Exemplar of Liberty, Native America and the Evolution of Democracy,
Chp.8, "A New Chapter, Images of native America in the writings of Franklin, Jefferson, and Paine"

             

The second image was one of Native American women observing a parade in support of American women's rights. The image relays to the viewer that Iroquois women had enjoyed equal rights within their nations long before non Native American women had. I have studied women's rights in the past and do not recall Native American women being used as a catalyst to promote equal rights during women's suffrage. 

SAVAGERY TO "CIVILIZATION" THE INDIAN WOMEN: We whom you pity as drudges reached centuries ago the goal that you are now nearing The use of Indian women to provide an exemplar of feminist liberty continued into the nineteenth century. On May 16, 1914, only six years before the first national election in which women had the vote, Puck printed a line drawing of a group of Indian women observing Susan B. Anthony, Anne Howard Shaw and Elizabeth Cady Stanton leading a parade of women. A verse under the print read: "Savagery to Civilization" We, the women of the Iroquois Own the Land, the Lodge, the Children Ours is the right to adoption, life or death; Ours is the right to raise up and depose chiefs; Ours is the right to representation in all councils; Ours is the right to make and abrogate treaties; Ours is the supervision over domestic and foreign policies; Ours is the trusteeship of tribal property; Our lives are valued again as high as man's. [67] Figure 38, from Exemplar of Liberty, Native America and the Evolution of Democracy, Chp.11, "The Persistence of an Idea, Impressions of Iroquois liberty after the eighteenth century"

                Both of the images helped me to understand the contribution and influence of Native Americans during significant historical events in our country's history. Why was this not part of my high school curriculum? Another thought that came to my mind was, when I took history classes in college, the presence of Native Americans in the texts and lessons was minimal. I am thrilled that this class is broadening my knowledge of our indigenous peoples.

The Six Nations: Oldest Participatory Nation Democracy on Earth. Retrieved from: http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/