Letter to the editor: The oldest living participatory democracy on earth

This is an election year. I offer these words before all else because the land we are on is part of a great legacy of democracy. Delegates to the constitutional convention of 1787 had personal relationships with indigenous peoples of this area. Suffragists who met at Seneca Falls learned from these matrilineal nations. There were no functioning democracies in Europe at that time, to which the delegates could look.

The Great Peacemaker and Hiawatha brought a multi-state government together, while each nation maintained its own governance. The Gayogohono, Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, and later the Tuscarora united as the Haudenosaunee. This is the oldest living participatory democracy on earth.

The U.S. Constitution embodies the following characteristics that the constitutional founders learned from this confederacy.

1. Separation of offices. Members of the executive branch or judicial branch cannot serve in the U.S. House or Senate. The Confederacy restricts members from holding more than one office.

2.     Process to remove leaders outlined in both.

3.     Both have two legislative branches with procedures to pass laws.

4.     The confederacy delineates who has the power to declare war. The U.S. has the War Powers clause.

5.     The confederacy created a balance of power between the confederacy and the individual nations. The U.S. has the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government for its system of checks and balances, while there are also state and local levels of government.

The U.S. Great Seal has an eagle holding a bundle of 13 arrows signifying that many arrows cannot be broken as easily as one.

The Haudenosaunee confederacy model was invoked to unite the 13 original colonies in creating the U.S. constitution.

We get to stand on this specific land that gave birth to democracy. Let us raise up our thanks and gratitude in this election year for the Gayogohono and other nations who are still showing us the way.

With the deepest appreciation,

Ruth Atkin

Ithaca