Our clan system is an ancient system that was later integrated into a peacemaking, political form of governance with our chiefs that is now over 1,000 years old. This political process merged the support of chiefs and Clan Mothers through the three-sided structure of governance of passing matters across the house at local, national and international levels. With equanimity and balance the Haudenosaunee continue to engage and interact with all parties, foreign and domestic in this manner.
Each Clan Mother selects one chief to represent the voice of the people in her clan. She instructs him on all matters that must be elevated to the national or international level among the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of Six Nations or beyond. She consults with her chief and sets the bounds on his decisions in council meetings. In this form of governance, all voices of the people are represented within their nation and beyond.
Notably, she holds the absolute, undeniable right to remove her chief if he acts in his self-interest rather than for the peace and well-being of the people.
Clan Mothers also hold the responsibility to decide if their nation goes to war or shall remain at peace. As mothers, they will first consider the loss of their children’s lives and bearing responsibility for bloodshed before rushing to fight.
… Family lineage among the Haudenosaunee is passed down through the women. Children receive their clan, name and nation from their mother’s clan—a sharp contrast to the patriarchal structures of the colonial world.
When the Haudenosaunee Confederacy convenes in the Grand Council, each nation sits in its designated place within our Longhouse, mirroring the organizational structure like our clans. The nations care for one another in the same reciprocal way that clan families do at the local level.
Within the Grand Council, agendas are set, issues are raised, and matters among our nations or with outside nations are passed back and forth across the house until consensus is reached—the same deliberative process as where the Bear Clan sits.
This all existed long before Columbus set sail for the Americas. Every European that came into contact with the Haudenosaunee, including the forefathers and foremothers of this country, observed and engaged with our form of government.
The Foundational Omission in U.S. Democracy
When the U.S. founding fathers drafted their Constitution, drawing inspiration from Haudenosaunee governance, they committed a catastrophic omission: matrilineal leadership.