Oldest Constitution in North America

The Times has reported that Americans two years from now will have ample opportunity to mark the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. This nation’s Constitution was reputed to be the oldest document of its kind in the world.

My roots go back to the Oneida Nation of New York. Since childhood, I have heard that the Native Americans, specifically the Six Nations (or Iroquois Confederacy), played a major role in shaping the ideas of the United States’ founders.

A federal union of five (later six) nations existed on this soil at the time of European colonization. These nations were joined together under the Great Law of Peace (Kaianerekowa) , which was not wholly unwritten before its transcription into English in the late 19th Century; its provisions were recorded on wampum belts with ideographs.

The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 and finally ratified by all 13 states in 1789.

A wide range of estimates exist for the founding date of the Iroquois Confederacy. Most historians place the origin of the league and its Great Law at about 1450, which means a confederation of Native Americans mark the 535th anniversary of their constitution in 1985.

This League of Nations (Hodenosaunee) survives today as the oldest constitutional government in the world and ideological antecedent to the United States and many nations around the world.

CRIS PIERCE

Los Angeles