The Six Nations


“The Six Nations: Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth” is a webpage that compiles information from various sources to give an overview of the Haudenosaunee nations in Northeastern North America. It was created by rat haus reality press, a group dedicated to environmental issues and those that affect all humankind.  As rat haus seems to be run by native people, or at least those interested in native issues, this source was likely created to provide an overview of the history of the Six Nations that also can direct readers to dozens of other sources for further exploration. For instance, there are links to United Nations documents, interviews with and speeches by Oren Lyons, and images created by someone associated with the Six Nations Indian Museum in upstate New York.

I believe this resource was selected for this course because it provides a great deal of information from a native perspective, offering not only facts about the history of the Six Nations, but context about the culture of these nations, as in “Presentation to the United Nations,” part of the 14th entry on the website, which explains life from the point of view of a Cayuga Bear Clan Mother named Carol Jacobs. 

I think that a quality academic website provides information and the sources where that information originated. Though many also include significantly more original content than this site, because it serves as a gateway of sorts, and cites all of the included sources, it can be used as an academic website.

The information on this website has certainly changed my view of native communities. As this course progresses, I have realized that I have, in the past, overlooked the fact that native communities still exist today. Reading such recent accounts of the continuity of these groups, both in terms of history and culture, has helped me understand the richness of traditions even today. Carol Jacobs' presentation, where she mentioned the length of native history and the continuing traditions of a strong role for women, really helped me internalize this.

“The Six Nations: Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth.” Ratical, Rat Haus Reality Ratical Branch, ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/.

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