18 Mar The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy
The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy
As you read the law below, which summarizes Iroquois wisdom, ask yourself if we, in this day and age, have something equivalent to it? Do we? And where is our multigenerational consciousness? Do we have a multigenerational consciousness? Have we ever “cast our self-interests into oblivion”? Explain.
“In all of your deliberations in the Confederate Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official acts, self-interest shall be cast into oblivion. Cast not over your shoulder behind you the warnings of the nephews and nieces should they chide you for any error or wrong you may do but return to the way of the Great Law which is just and right. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground – the unborn of the future Nation.”
Now read the proverb below.
Explain what it means and whether it does or does not fit with the ideas of Seventh Generation thinking.
“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” -Ancient Greek Proverb
