"Ancient Civilizations of North America" free on Amazon Prime until 9/30/22.......

[Jade Fox]

I stumbled across this 2018 program on Amazon Prime, and being a bit of an armchair anthropologist, I was thrilled.

It is one of the Great Courses programs. It is an exhaustive study of the origin of native peoples in North America, with 24 chapters (and it's just season one!).

I watched the first few chapters, and then skipped ahead to the final chapter. I was anxious to hear about the Iroquois and their Five Nation agreement that is supposed to be the basis of our US Constitution.

[randr]

1. I just finished "Blood and Thunder" by Hampton Sides

Incredible narrative history of the west from the perspective of Kit Carson's life.
I have Amazon Prime so I will definitely be looking into "Ancient Civilizations--, thanks

[Jade Fox]

8. Thanks for the rec!

[Haggard Celine]

2. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll look for it.

[multigraincracker]

3. You may enjoy this book.

A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh by Allan W. Eckert.

bio of Tecumseh. Found lots of history of SE Michigan and Ohio in it.

[bahboo]

6. fabbulous book....

a lot to learn in it...

[Jade Fox]

9. Thank you!

[PortTack]

4. Great post and replies! They all sound really interesting. A refreshing break from the politics

Of today.

And, history always has something to teach us about what’s happening currently.

[pandr32]

5. Excellent and thank you!

[Judi Lynn]

7. Thank you. Sounds wonderful. 👋

[wnylib]

10. The Iroquois governing system was an influence

on the colonies to unify, and later had some influence on the delegates at the Constitutional Convention, but I don't think that I would say that it was the basis of the constitution. The US founders were also familiar with the systems of ancient Rome and Greece. A colonial governor of NY, Cadwallader, compared the Iroquois system to Rome's republic.

For the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) founding story of their government, and a description of how the system of government worked, I recommend the book Parker on the Iroquois. Arthur Caswell Parker was biologically 1/4 Seneca, but not a member of the Seneca nation until he was adopted into a clan, because his mother and grandmother were of English descent.

Parker lived from 1881 to 1955. He was a NY archaeologist and ethnologist. (He was also a distant cousin of mine.)

https://www.amazon.com/Parker-Iroquois-State-Studies-Syracuse/dp/0815601158

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Parker

[Jade Fox]

11. Thank you so much for your info and links!

[wnylib]

12. Happy to pass the info along.

[wnylib]

13. You might be interested in this story

of the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the union of the 13 English colonies and the origin of the eagle clutching 13 arrows in the Great Seal of the US. This info is available at a number of Internet sites.

In 1744, delegates from 3 English colonies met with delegates of the Iroquois Confederacy at Lancaster, PA to establish a treaty agreement to buy land from the Iroquois and to get Iroquois loyalty against French attacks in the French and Indian wars.

The most respected Iroquois delegate, Chief Canassatego of the Onondaga nation, was concerned that the English did not have sufficient unity and organization to deal with the French. He advised the English delegates that they should form a union like the Iroquois had done. He told them that their union allowed each tribal nation to govern itself, but created a solid front as one nation against outsiders.

Canassatego used a single arrow to demonstrate his point. He snapped it in two, easily. Then he held 6 arrows together, to represent the 6 nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (the Tuscaroras had joined the original 5). He could not break the 6 when bundled together.

The English delegates gave the minutes of the meeting to Benjamin Franklin to print copies. Franklin was impressed with Cannasatego's advice. He tried, unsuccessfully, to get a union started, called the Albany Plan. But, a few years later, the colonies were more agreeable to a union, just prior to the American Revolution. Later, when symbols were chosen for the new United States, the eagle clutching 13 arrows was chosen. The eagle was an Iroquois symbol of their unity. They envisioned an eagle at the top of a tree keeping guard over the territory of the Confederacy to warn them of danger from the outside. The arrows represent the strength in unity.