Us Constitution And Native American Influence

The US Constitution, signed in 1787, was a group effort involving some of the country's greatest minds. However, many of the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution were familiar with Native American nations, and some had negotiated treaties or engaged in diplomatic relations with them. The influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution was formally acknowledged by Congress in 1988. The resolution stated that the confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles incorporated into the Constitution itself.

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Influence of the Iroquois Confederacy

The Iroquois Confederacy, which dates back several centuries, was founded by the Great Peacemaker by uniting five nations: the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca. In 1722, the Tuscarora nation joined the Iroquois, also known as the Haudenosaunee. Together, these six nations formed a multi-state government that ensured individual governance and freedom. The structure of the Confederacy was federal in nature, operating under The Great Law of Peace, a doctrine of 117 codicils where individual tribes handled their own affairs but came together to solve issues of common importance.

The Iroquois Confederacy was of particular interest to the Founding Fathers who signed the US Constitution. The Founders were impressed by how the Iroquois legislated their affairs, and shortly thereafter, they drafted the US Constitution, echoing the Great Law of Peace. John Adams suggested that those drafting the Constitution should study the governments of "the ancient Germans and modern Indians," which he believed divided power among the three branches of executive, judicial, and legislative governance. In particular, he cited the Mohawks, who he argued enjoyed "complete individual independence," while tribal leaders brought major decisions like declarations of war to "a national assembly.". Benjamin Franklin was also closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with Native nations, including the Iroquois Confederacy, and studied their systems of governance.

Thomas Jefferson also studied Native systems of government, expressing admiration for them, despite incorrectly characterizing them as having "no law." The constitutional framers may have viewed the indigenous people of the Iroquois Confederacy as inferior, but that didn't stop them from admiring their federalist principles.

In 1988, Congress passed a resolution formally acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution. The resolution stated that "the confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles incorporated into the Constitution itself." The resolution also reaffirmed "the continuing government-to-government relationship between Indian tribes and the United States established in the Constitution," recognizing the legitimacy and sovereignty of Native nations and their governments.

Separation of military and civil leadership

The relationship between military organizations and civil society, military organizations and government bureaucracies, and leaders and the military is referred to as civil-military relations (CMR). While there is little argument that separate civilian and military worlds exist, there is significant debate about the proper interaction between the two. The Vietnam War opened up deep arguments about civil-military relations, with some arguing that the US lost due to unnecessary civilian meddling in military matters, and others arguing that the political leadership failed to define clear objectives.

In 1988, Congress passed a resolution formally acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution. The resolution stated that the confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles incorporated into the Constitution. The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Haudenosaunee, was founded by the Great Peacemaker, who united five nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca. In 1722, the Tuscarora nation joined the Iroquois. Benjamin Franklin was closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with Native nations, including the Iroquois Confederacy, and studied their systems of governance. Eighteenth-century tribal governments across what is now the US had a wide variety of government models, from relatively complex to simple governments.

John Adams suggested that those drafting the Constitution should study the governments of "the ancient Germans and modern Indians," which he believed divided power among the three branches of executive, judicial, and legislative governance. In particular, he cited the Mohawks, who he argued enjoyed "complete individual independence," while tribal leaders brought major decisions like declarations of war to "a national assembly." Thomas Jefferson also studied Native systems of government, expressing admiration for them, despite incorrectly characterizing them as having "no law."

The German military's highly participative model of civil-military relations is a pattern in which post-World War II German military members make themselves fully a part of society's political processes without threatening them. This model was an effort to correct the prewar separatist and militarist orientation of the German armed forces, which had never really been integrated with Weimar democracy in the interwar period. Morris Janowitz observed the benefit to democratic society of a representative officer corps, noting that the military community has been more sharply segregated from civilian life in the United States than in the major nations of Western Europe.

Freedom of religion

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." However, this right was not extended to Native Americans until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was passed in 1978.

Prior to the Act, many aspects of Native American religions and sacred ceremonies had been prohibited by law. The AIRFA was enacted to return basic civil liberties to American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians, and to allow them to practice, protect, and preserve their inherent right to freedom of religion. These rights include access to sacred sites, the freedom to worship through traditional ceremonial rites, and the possession and use of objects traditionally considered sacred.

Despite the AIRFA, Native Americans still sometimes fight with the U.S. government over lands considered holy. For example, in 1988, the AIRFA statute came before the Supreme Court in the case of Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association. The Forest Service wanted to build a logging road through sacred lands in the Chimney Rock area of the Six Rivers National Forest. An Environmental Impact Statement concluded that the construction of the road would destroy the religion of three Native American tribes.

In 1994, Congress passed H.R. 4230 to amend the AIRFA, specifically to provide for the protected use of peyote as a sacrament in traditional religious ceremonies. However, the AIRFA has been criticized for its inability to enforce its provisions and protect certain sacred sites. In response to this criticism, the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources and the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs met in 1994 to bring about H.R. 4155, which provided for the management of federal lands in a way that does not frustrate the traditional religions and religious purposes of Native Americans.

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Democratic policies

The US Constitution, signed in 1787, was influenced by the political systems of several Native American tribes. In 1988, Congress passed a resolution formally acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution. The resolution also reaffirmed the "government-to-government relationship between Indian tribes and the United States established in the Constitution", recognising the legitimacy and sovereignty of Native nations and their governments.

The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Haudenosaunee, was founded several centuries ago by the Great Peacemaker, who united five nations: the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca. In 1722, the Tuscarora nation joined the Iroquois. The Confederacy's political system, which involved a stacked-government model, is said to have influenced the thinking of the constitutional framers. The Iroquois, along with other tribes like the Shawnee and Cherokee, had relatively complex government systems that included democratic policies for referendums, vetoes, and recalls. They also guarded certain personal freedoms, including freedom of religion, and gave women a significant role in government.

John Adams suggested that those drafting the Constitution should study the governments of "the ancient Germans and modern Indians", citing the Mohawks as an example of a group that enjoyed "complete individual independence" while still bringing major decisions to a "national assembly". Benjamin Franklin was also closely involved in negotiating and studying the systems of governance of Native nations, including the Iroquois Confederacy. Thomas Jefferson studied and expressed admiration for Native systems of government, though he incorrectly characterised them as having "no law".

The influence of Native American political systems on the US Constitution is further evidenced by the recognition of Indian nations or tribes by the federal government in the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. This act allowed Indian nations to select from a catalogue of constitutional documents that enumerated powers for tribes and tribal councils. Today, there are 574 federally recognised sovereign Indian nations and tribes operating under constitutions and charters within the US federal and state structure. Most tribes have written constitutions, and while some, like the Navajo, chose to opt out of the Indian Reorganization Act, many others have constitutions modelled after form constitutions prepared by the United States Department of the Interior pursuant to the Act.

Tribal sovereignty

The US Constitution mentions Native American tribes three times. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that "Congress shall have the power to regulate Commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes", determining that Indian tribes were separate from the federal government, the states, and foreign nations.

The Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2 amends the apportionment of representatives in Article I, Section 2. These constitutional provisions and Supreme Court interpretations are summarized in three principles of US Indian law: territorial sovereignty, plenary power doctrine, and the trust relationship. Territorial sovereignty refers to the organic authority of tribes on Indian land, which is not granted by the states in which Indian lands are located. The plenary power doctrine states that Congress, not the Executive or Judicial Branch, has ultimate authority over matters concerning Indian tribes. The trust relationship implies that the federal government has a "duty to protect" the tribes, including the necessary legislative and executive authorities to effect that duty.

In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act allowed Indian nations to select from a catalogue of constitutional documents that enumerated powers for tribes and tribal councils. The Act did not recognize the Courts of Indian Offenses, but 1934 is still considered the year when tribal authority, rather than United States authority, gave legitimacy to tribal courts. John Collier and Nathan Margold wrote an opinion stating that "sovereign powers inhered in Indian tribes except for where they were restricted by Congress".

In 1988, Congress passed a resolution formally acknowledging the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution. The resolution affirmed the legitimacy and sovereignty of Native nations and their governments. The resolution also recognized the "government-to-government relationship" between Indian tribes and the United States.

Several historic court cases have affirmed tribal sovereignty. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the US Supreme Court affirmed that the Cherokee Nation was not subject to state regulation, stating that it was a "distinct community occupying its own territory". In United States v. Mazurie (1975), the Supreme Court held that tribes are sovereign over tribal members and tribal land. In Iron Crow v. Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Supreme Court concluded that tribal members with US citizenship were still subject to tribal laws and taxes, as tribes retain their inherent sovereignty unless specifically removed by treaty or Congressional Act.

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