hello before the video begins I would like to tell you about an amazing channel it's called latam story and it's putting out amazing content about Latin American history it's definitely worth checking out the iqua Confederacy the people of the iqua Confederacy also known as the Six Nations refer to themselves as the Udin noani it means people's of the long housee and refers to their lengthy bark covered long houses that housed many families the IRA or hodin Nani Confederacy of upper New York and Southeastern Canada is often characterized as one of the world's oldest participatory democracies it was originally made up from five nations the Mohawk Onida onandaga kuga Sena and later joined by the Tusk Aurora the confederacy's Constitution the Great Law of Peace is believed to have been a model for the US Constitution partly because Benjamin Franklin was known to have been much interested in its structure according to their founding tradition The Peacemaker story these Ira peoples who had been at war with each other for a long time came together to live in peace and Harmony after hawaa a Mourning on aaga chief Chief joined a man who was known as The Peacemaker in pursuing Unity among the iaqua some believed this happened in the late 1100s and some believed it happened in the late 1500s as the story is carried orally and it's not written down the Great Peacemaker and the wise hawaa traveled to each of the five nations to share their ideas for peace a council meeting was called and hawaa presented The Great LA Law of Peace or what would later be known as the iraa Constitution it United the five nations into a League of Nations the iqua Confederacy and became the basis for the iaqua Confederacy Constitution each Nation maintained its own leadership but they all agreed that common causes would be decided in the grand Council of chiefs the concept was based on peace and consensus rather than fighting The Peacemaker established Clans within the nations of the iraa Confederacy the clan system United the Nations and ensured peace among them The Peacemaker also set up the iqua society as matal lineal this meant clan members traced their family history and ancestors through their mothers each Clan was made up of a group of families that had a common female ancestor when people married the husband moved into his wife's long house when a child was born he or she became part of the mother's clan members of the same Clan were considered family members so they always extended Hospitality to each other even if they came from different nations also people of the same Clan did not marry each other within each Nation members of the same Clan lived together in a l housee the IRA lived in settlements made up of several Lous L houses were large open dwellings where many families of the same Clan lived together the L house was an important place in the government of the iaqua it was where men and women met to discuss issues and events and to advise their leaders people were expected to attend these discussions because the consensus or agreement of the group was crucial Clan mothers were usually the oldest and most respected women in their Clans the title was hereditary and passed on to the woman relative that was thought to be best suited for the position Clan mothers were responsible for their Clan's welfare and for maintaining Harmony and balance within the Clans and Nations they selected the male Chiefs called hoana which means caretakers of the peace the Great Law of Peace stated that the Chiefs had to put the needs of their people first the clan mothers would replace Chiefs who failed to do this within each Clan there was a women's Council and a men's Council these councils advised the clan mothers who then advised the Chiefs and vice versa although they rarely spoke at Grand Council meetings all iqua people men and women had ways to make their voices heard in the decisionmaking of the grand Council through the women's councils and men's councils of their Clans they advised the clan mothers of their positions on issues the clan mothers in turn chose and advised the chief if the chief didn't carefully consider the advice of his clan mother the clan mother warned him after the third warning she removed him and chose someone else the long housee was used by The Peacemaker and hawaa as a symbol to represent the union the culture and the tradition of the iqua Confederation and how their territory should be shared the three largest tribes held important positions within the Confederation which relate to the structure of the long housee the Mohawk were the easternmost group and considered to be the keepers of the Eastern door the Sena the largest Nation were known as the keepers of the western door the onandaga were known as the keepers of the central Council fire and the main onandaga Villa served as the capital and meeting place of the council the grand Council met to discuss issues that affected the whole iraa Confederacy such as peace treaties trade agreements and decisions to go to war the grand Council was made up of Chiefs from each Nation 50 in all within each Nation the Chiefs formed a council for that Nation this Council made decisions that helped its Nation function well so such as sharing resources and locating settlements the grand Council met when a member Nation called for a meeting the role of the Chiefs at Grand Council meetings was to represent the people of their Clan and Nation the clan mothers attended the grand Council meetings to make sure their Chiefs fulfilled their role as Representatives the grand counil was made from 50 Chiefs the number of chiefs for each nation was established by by The Peacemaker the Sena had eight the Mohawk had nine the onandaga had 14 the kuga had 10 and the Onida had nine Chiefs the Sena and the Mohawk being the older brothers the Onida and the kuga being the younger brothers and the onandaga being keepers of the council fire first the Elder Brothers the Mohawk and the Sena discussed the issue among themselves when they reached reached a decision they passed their consensus across the sacred fire to the younger brothers the Onida and kuga the Elder Brothers listened while the younger brothers discussed the matter and arrived at their own consensus when the older brothers and younger brothers agreed Theon Anda the keepers of the council fire would be asked to give their judgment Council decisions had to be unanimous so the grand Council always worked toward consens if some party disagreed in the process the council had to be restarted until all sides came to a common decision in 1722 the Confederacy was joined by the Tuscarora people who lost the war against the Europeans and migrated North they shared the same language and culture as the other nations after that the grand Council decided the Tuscarora would join them however they were not given any representation in the council thank you for watching if you enjoyed the content please consider 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