16 December 2008
One Head, One Body, One Mind
This article is excerpted from the IIP publication Sketchbook USA, a richly illustrated volume that depicts Americans at work, at play, in their communities, and engaging in civic life. View and download the fully formatted Sketchbook.
The descendants of white Europeans wrote the story of how the United States became a nation. Time has shown us that a few chapters were left out, sanitized, or revised as earlier generations of historians tried to justify actions inconsistent with the ideals of the American experiment.
The documents that became the touchstone for a nation — the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution of 1787 — were not as new to the New World as early historians may have maintained. In fact, similar principles existed among the peoples of these lands before the white Europeans ever arrived, though not in written form.
The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations was a code of governance adopted by five Indian tribes living in what is now the northeastern United States. Said to date in oral tradition to the late 1400s, the constitution of these Indian tribes outlined principles for a republican, representative form of government; it detailed rules for consideration of proposals, means for resolving disputes, and a succession of leadership.
Most important, it asserted the principle that government exists to serve the best interests of the people. “Thus are the Five Nations united completely and enfolded together, united into one head, one body, and one mind. Therefore they shall labor, legislate, and council together for the interest of future generations.”
Today the U.S. government holds more than 22 million hectares (56.2 million acres) of land in trust for Native-American tribes, many of which still adhere to their ancient principles of government. Within that territory, about 275 land areas are administered as Indian reservations. The largest is the Navajo Reservation of some 6.4 million hectares (16 million acres) of land in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
More than 550 tribal governments are recognized by the federal government, while some tribal groups are recognized only by state governments, or by surviving members alone. Federally recognized tribes have a special relationship with the U.S. government and are not governed by the laws of the state in which they are located. The federally recognized tribes are considered nations in their own right and have a government-to-government relationship with the federal government in Washington.
