Constitution Articles 13 - 19

Iroquois Warriors - Beaver Wars

Iroquois Warriors

Read the 117 Articles of the Iroquois Confederacy Constitution. This page contains Articles 13 - 19.

The Iroquois Confederacy was a powerful confederation of Native American Indians which was originally composed of 5 tribes consisting of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca people. The Great Law of Peace was the basis of the Iroquois Confederacy Constitution which was brought to the tribes by the prophet Deganawida and his spokesman, Hiawatha. 

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Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Articles 13 - 19

Articles 13 - 19 of the original Iroquois Confederacy Constitution are detailed on this page.

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution
The Constitution Of The Iroquois Nations
The Great Binding Law, Gayanashagowa

Articles 13 - 19

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 13
13. No Lord shall ask a question of the body of Confederate Lords when they are discussing a case, question or proposition. He may only deliberate in a low tone with the separate body of which he is a member.


Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 14
14. When the Council of the Five Nation Lords shall convene they shall appoint a speaker for the day. He shall be a Lord of either the Mohawk, Onondaga or Seneca Nation. The next day the Council shall appoint another speaker, but the first speaker may be reappointed if there is no objection, but a speaker's term shall not be regarded more than for the day.


Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 15
15. No individual or foreign nation interested in a case, question or proposition shall have any voice in the Confederate Council except to answer a question put to him or them by the speaker for the Lords.

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 16
16. If the conditions which shall arise at any future time call for an addition to or change of this law, the case shall be carefully considered and if a new beam seems necessary or beneficial, the proposed change shall be voted upon and if adopted it shall be called, "Added to the Rafters".

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 17
17. A bunch of a certain number of shell (wampum) strings each two spans in length shall be given to each of the female families in which the Lordship titles are vested. The right of bestowing the title shall be hereditary in the family of the females legally possessing the bunch of shell strings and the strings shall be the token that the females of the family have the proprietary right to the Lordship title for all time to come, subject to certain restrictions hereinafter mentioned.

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 18
18. If any Confederate Lord neglects or refuses to attend the Confederate Council, the other Lords of the Nation of which he is a member shall require their War Chief to request the female sponsors of the Lord so guilty of defection to demand his attendance of the Council. If he refuses, the women holding the title shall immediately select another candidate for the title. No Lord shall be asked more than once to attend the Confederate Council.

 

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Article 19
19. If at any time it shall be manifest that a Confederate Lord has not in mind the welfare of the people or disobeys the rules of this Great Law, the men or women of the Confederacy, or both jointly, shall come to the Council and upbraid the erring Lord through his War Chief. If the complaint of the people through the War Chief is not heeded the first time it shall be uttered again and then if no attention is given a third complaint and warning shall be given. If the Lord is contumacious the matter shall go to the council of War Chiefs. The War Chiefs shall then divest the erring Lord of his title by order of the women in whom the title-ship is vested. When the Lord is deposed the women shall notify the Confederate Lords through their War Chief, and the Confederate Lords shall sanction the act. The women will then select another of their sons as a candidate and the Lords shall elect him. Then shall the chosen one be installed by the Installation Ceremony. When a Lord is to be deposed, his War Chief shall address him as follows:


"So you, __________, disregard and set at naught the warnings of your women relatives. So you fling the warnings over your shoulder to cast them behind you. "Behold the brightness of the Sun and in the brightness of the Sun's light I depose you of your title and remove the sacred emblem of your Lordship title. I remove from your brow the deer's antlers, which was the emblem of your position and token of your nobility. I now depose you and return the antlers to the women whose heritage they are."


The War Chief shall now address the women of the deposed Lord and say:


"Mothers, as I have now deposed your Lord, I now return to you the emblem and the title of Lordship, therefore repossess them."


Again addressing himself to the deposed Lord he shall say:


 

"As I have now deposed and discharged you so you are now no longer Lord. You shall now go your way alone, the rest of the people of the Confederacy will not go with you, for we know not the kind of mind that possesses you. As the Creator has nothing to do with wrong so he will not come to rescue you from the precipice of destruction in which you have cast yourself. You shall never be restored to the position which you once occupied."


Then shall the War Chief address himself to the Lords of the Nation to which the deposed Lord belongs and say:


"Know you, my Lords, that I have taken the deer's antlers from the brow of ___________, the emblem of his position and token of his greatness."


The Lords of the Confederacy shall then have no other alternative than to sanction the discharge of the offending Lord.

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Articles 13 - 19
Read about the History and founding of the Iroquois Confederacy. The full text of the 117 Articles of the Iroquois Confederacy Constitution can be accessed via the following links:

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 01 - 12 : Role of the Great Council

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 13 - 19 : Council membership, Wampum

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 20 - 26 : Eligibility and Resignation

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 27 - 34 : Candidates

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 35 - 54 : Election of Pine Tree Chiefs,
Names, Duties and Rights of War Chiefs, Women, Clans and Consanguinity


Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 55 - 65 : Official Symbolism and Wampum

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 66 - 78 : Laws of Adoption, Laws of Emigration
and Rights of Foreign Nations


Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 79 - 91 : Rights and Powers of War

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 92 - 106 : Treason or Secession of a Nation,
Rights of the People of the Five Nations, Religious Ceremonies Protected


Iroquois Confederacy Constitution: Articles 107 - 117 : Protection of the House, Funeral Addresses

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution
The 117 articles of the original Iroquois Confederacy Constitution are detailed in this section of the website. The words and text were prepared by Gerald Murphy and distributed by the Cybercasting Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network.

Iroquois Confederacy Constitution

  • The Iroquois Confederacy Constitution of Native Americans
  • Text of the Articles 13 - 19
  • Interesting facts and info for kids and schools
  • Read the words of the Articles of the Iroquois Confederacy Constitution
  • Native Americans pictures and videos for kids

Pictures and Videos of Native Americans
The Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Articles 13 - 19. Discover the vast selection of pictures which relate to the History of Native Americans. The pictures show the clothing, war paint, weapons and decorations of various Native Indian tribes that can be used as a really useful educational history resource for kids and children of all ages. We have included pictures and videos to accompany the main topic of this section - Iroquois Confederacy Constitution. The videos enable fast access to the images, paintings and pictures together with information and many historical facts. All of the articles and pages can be accessed via the Native Indian Tribes Index - a great educational resource for kids.

 

Teaching resource - Teachers - Kids - Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Articles 13 - 19 - Articles - Text - Words - Iroquois - Confederacy - Constitution - League - Nativeamericans - Native Indian Americans - North American Indians - Kids - Homework - Teachers - Children - Studies - Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Articles 13-19 - Iroquois Confederacy Constitution - Written By Linda Alchin

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