Archive 6
THESE ARE TRULY ' WAYS ' OF WISDOM !
We are the Haudenosaunee.... That means ' People of the Longhouse '.
We are made up of Six Nations....Each of us is equal....Each of us
is sovereign....and we come together in a Confederacy......Our
business is peace , not war.....In issues of peace and war and other
major matters we sit together and make our decisions.There is no
single authority....we do not vote.....we must reach a decision that
everyone agrees with....and we have a way by which we arrive at that
decision.
We have a Central Fire, and we have three sides to the fire. Our
Elder Brothers, the Seneca and Mohawk, sit on one side of the fire ;
our Younger Brothers , the Oneida, Cayuga, and Tuscarora sit on the
other side ; and in front sit the Onondaga , the keepers of the
Central Fire.....Each side of the fire has one speaker, and he
speaks on behalf of those he sits with.
A problem is presented from what we call the Well.....From there it
goes to each of the sides for discussion.....Each side agrees or
disagrees among itself and sends its decision on the problem back to
the Well. There it is adjusted to conform with the decisions of the
others....Then it is sent back out from the Well again....This goes
on until the issue is unanimously decided.
This is a very old Indian - style government....It requires complete
unity of decision....It takes time , but the decisions , once made
are very firm.
If , after a third time , there is still no unanimous decision,
then the Tadodaho , or presiding chief - who comes from the Onondaga
, the Keepers of the Central Fire - will announce a compromise
decision .....but if the problem is still divisive , the Tadodaho
will say, " We will not address it at all, because there is no
problem that is important enough to cause divisions among the
people."
" The Peacemaker who founded our Confederacy told us, we must be of
one mind....Those are good words to remember today - or any day !
"
Words spoken by Oren Lyons - Onondaga
From 'Wisdomkeepers'
Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders.
Love and Light to all.
