Tsagiglalal or “The Watcher” caption at the Columbia River Gorge. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

When the founders of the United States were designing the Constitution, they were learning from history that democracy was likely to fail; They were trying to find someone who would deceive the people into giving them full authority and then deceive them. end democracy.

They designed checks and balances to guard against the accumulation of power, which they found while studying ancient Greece and Rome. But there were others in North America: Native Americans who saw the dangers of certain types of government and designed their own checks and balances to guard against tyranny.

Although most Americans today don’t know it, large centralized civilizations existed throughout much of North America from the 10th to the 12th centuries. They built huge cities and major irrigation projects across the continent. Twelfth-century CahokiaLocated on the banks of the Mississippi River, it had a central city about the size of London at the time. Expanding 12th century Huhugam civilization The desert southwest had several cities of more than 10,000 people and perhaps a total population of 50,000.

Remnants of these structures still exist in far-flung places, even after more than 1000 years. Phoenix, St.Louis And northern georgia.

American Colonists and founders of Native American societies simple and primitive – but they weren’t. As studies, including my own, have found and I I explain in my book, “Native Nations: A Millennium in North AmericaNative American societies were elaborate consensus democracies, many of which had survived for generations through careful attention to checks and balances of power.

Powerful rulers led many of these civilizations, combining political and religious power, as European rulers in later centuries would claim. divine right to rule.

However, in the 13th century The global cooling trend has begunThis period became known as the Little Ice Age. In part because of this cooling, large-scale farming became more difficult and these great civilizations struggled to feed their people. The elite began to accumulate wealth. The people wanted change.

spreading

Residents of North America’s major cities responded to these tensions by reversing the centralization of power and wealth. Some rebelled against their leaders. Others left the cities and spread out to smaller towns and farms. They built smaller, more democratic and more egalitarian societies across the continent.

Vast numbers left Cahokia’s territory entirely. They found places where there was still game to hunt and forests full of firewood and trees for building; both had declined due to rapid growth near Cahokia.

The population of the central city of Cahokia fell from probably 20,000 to just 3,000 in 1275. At some point the elites also left, and by the late 15th century Cahokia’s cities were completely destroyed.

Promoting participatory democracy

As people overthrew or fled major cities and their very powerful leaders formed these new, more dispersed societies, they sought to avoid charming leaders who made seductive promises in difficult times. They therefore designed complex political structures to discourage centralization, hierarchy, and inequality and to encourage collective decision-making.

These societies deliberately created balanced power structures. For example, oral history of the Osage Nation records that it once had a great chief who was a military leader, but his council of elderly spiritual leaders known as “Little Old Men” decided to balance that chief’s authority with his own. another hereditary chief who would be responsible for keeping the peace.

Another way some societies balanced power was through family-based clans. Clans communicated and cooperated across multiple towns. They can work together to balance the power of town-based chiefs and councils.

A leadership ideal

Many of these communities required the assembly of all people (men, women, and children) for important political, military, diplomatic, and land use decisions. Depending on how important the decision is, hundreds or even thousands of people may show up.

They strove for consensus, although they did not always achieve it. In some societies, it was customary for the losing party to quietly leave the meeting if they disagreed with the others.

Leaders often manage by facilitating decision-making in council meetings and public hearings. They gave gifts to encourage cooperation. They heard about and helped resolve disputes between neighbors over land and resources. Power and prestige lay not in the accumulation of wealth, but in the wise sharing of wealth. The leaders won support in part by being good providers.

‘Calm negotiation’

The Native American democracy that the founders of the United States knew best was the Iroquois Confederacy. They call themselves this Haudenosaunee“people of the longhouse” because the nations of the confederation must get along as more than one family in one longhouse.

In their carefully balanced system, women led clans that were responsible for local decisions regarding land use and urban planning. The men were representatives of their clan and nation on the Haudenosaunee council, which made decisions on behalf of the confederacy as a whole. Each council member, called a Royaner, is a clan mother.

Haudenosaunee Great Law He holds a royaner to a high standard: “The thickness of their skin will be seven spans, meaning they will be resistant to anger, aggressive actions and criticism. Their hearts will be filled with peace and good will.” In the council, “all their words and actions will be marked by calm deliberation.”

The law said that the ideal royaner should always be:seek and listen to the welfare of all the people and always consider not only the present but also the generations to come, even those whose faces are yet in the ground, that is, the unborn of the Nation of the future.

Of course, people did not always live in accordance with their values, but the laws and customs of Native nations encouraged peaceful discussion and open-mindedness. Many Europeans were stunned by this difference. French explorer La Salle noted with admiration for the Haudenosaunee in 1678: “They argue in important meetings without raising their voices or getting angry..”

Politicians, government officials, and ordinary Americans can take inspiration from the models of democracy created by Native Americans centuries ago. There was an additional component of political and social balance: Leaders looked forward and sought to protect the well-being of all, including those yet unborn. In turn, the people had the responsibility of the Haudenosaunee Great Law to not ensnare the “Royans” in less serious matters.unimportant work.”

This article is republished from: Speech It is under Creative Commons license. Read original article.