Since 1958, May 1st has been observed as Law Day in the United States. An annual observation of the legal profession where we honor the rule of law and its import in our free society.1 The 2024 theme is Voices of Democracy. In bringing the law to life for students, the United States Courts created learning opportunities focusing on the five strategies Thurgood Marshall used to open doors to equal opportunities for education. For the KCBA, Law Day provides an opportunity for our staff, members, and the legal community to educate and engage youth in understanding the power and importance of the rule of law.
The Constitution embodies the core values of the American people including those who wrote it, those who honor it and those working to uphold it. It also embodies the Indigenous values of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Indeed, the United States Constitution, the supreme law making our nation and our democracy so unique, was informed by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French and the League of Five Nations by the English, the Confederacy is properly called the Haudenosaunee Confederacy meaning People of the long house.2 The Confederacy is one of the first and longest participatory democracies in the world. What makes the Confederacy unique is the blending of laws and values.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy was created in about 1142 by the leaders of the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga.3 The governing principle was the Gyanesshagowa (The Great Law of Peace) guiding a principled legal system based on peace, power and righteousness:
Your heart shall be filled with peace and goodwill and your mind filled with a yearning for the welfare of the people of the Confederacy. With endless patience you shall carry out your duty and your firmness shall be tempered with tenderness for your people.4
The Law of Peace created delegates among its Chiefs, Clan Mothers, and Faith Keepers. These delegates formed the regulatory bodies of the Confederacy. The Grand Council is where the delegates meet and divide into two sections, much like the bicameral Congress. The Great Law of Peace was recorded and transmitted through wampum belts still used today. The beads used to create Wampum belts are crafted from Quahog clamshells found at the bottom of lakes and rivers. Wampum are visual representations of agreements and messages, truly a recording of a way of life. Oral traditions taking shape in art and objects is not too distant from the early history of the United States. Indeed, foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were read aloud and discussed in public forums, emphasizing the importance of shared values and symbols.5
The contributions of the Indigenous peoples to American culture are many and not relegated to democratic ideals. Did you know that Indigenous ingenuity has also advanced modern science and technology? Three-fifths of globally cultivated crops were domesticated by Indigenous peoples; Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants helped cure scurvy in newcomers to the continent; and Indigenous technology led to snowshoes, canoes, kayaks, and toboggans.6
I am deeply moved to see the values and contributions of my ancestors acknowledged and the government-to-government relationship between tribes and the United States in the Constitution reaffirmed. 102 STAT. 4932 (1988). As the granddaughter of an Oneida, I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce our members and community to the contributions of the Haudenosaunee to our democracy.
I hope this Law Day while commemorating the rule of law, our legal system, and your place in it, you will also reflect on the Indigenous voices that informed our democracy. I hope you will join me in being curious and continuing to learn about the myriad contributions Indigenous peoples have made to community, culture, and our common wellbeing.
1 https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/annual-observances/law-day
2 https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/who-we-are/one
3 https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2023/09/the-haude
nosaunee-confederacy-and-the-constitution/
4 http://www.ganienkeh.net/thelaw.html
5 https://history.nycourts.gov/great-law-of-peace-
shape-ny-american-democracy/
6 https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-
knowledge-advances-modern-science-and-technology
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