How It's Used

“Some Indians say banishment, while seemingly harsh, must be studied through the prism of tradition: It avoids bloodshed and reflects tribes' community values.
“‘It's out of desperation,’ said Doug George-Kanentiio, who is a journalist for News From Indian Country, a national newspaper, and a member of the six nations of Iroquois, some of which imposed banishments. ‘They could either reinforce the ancestral discipline, or they go the American route, which has proven to be a failure.’”

—Sarah Kershaw and Monica Davey, “Plauged by Drugs, Tribes Revive Ancient Penalty,” The New York Times, January 18, 2004.

"Ever since then, Athens has been the model for participatory or strong democracy where citizens, as individuals, play the deciding role in public affairs. Canada, too, has a tradition of participatory governance, one especially enshrined in the history of our First Nations. There are over 600 First Nations in Canada and one should not make generalizations that apply to all, but there are some well-documented case studies on the procedures and principles which illustrated aboriginal governance. The operative rules were consensus and participation. The Great Binding Law of the Iroquois Nations, for example, contains 117 clauses. Some believe the origin of the Iroquois Confederacy goes as far back as the 12th century, although it certainly goes back at least to the 15th. Tribes would choose a peace chief, a war chief and a council of elders. Women did not get the vote in Canada until 1918, but the Iroquois were a matriarchal society, with women choosing the representatives who attended the councils. Representatives of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy even attended the congress of 1776 in Philadelphia where they exchanged ideas on governance with Benjamin Franklin."

—Thomas Axworthy, "The Cradle Of Democracy: On the 250th anniversary of the birth of our parliamentary government, Thomas Axworthy looks at the history and future of our democracy," The National Post, October 2, 2008, p. A18.

"But few were sweeter than when the two biggest heroes of overtime, childhood friends from the same Canadian reserve, locked in a celebratory embrace. 'We just looked at each other and said that we did it,' Jamieson said. 'This is the reason why I came here. It felt good to win it with him. And just as they did when they played on the reserve in Six Nations, Ontario, the two old friends stole the show."

—Pete Thamel, "With Late Rally, Syracuse Defends Its Title," The New York Times, May 25, 2009.

Links

Related on eAlmanac
The Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy
The Five Civilized Tribes

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the Iroquois
Wikipedia article on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory
The Treaty with Six Nations (1789) on the Avalon Project at Yale Law School