Notecards

Native American Government

Source:

Asselin, Kristine Caarlson. The Real Story About Government and Politics in Colonial America . Fact Finders, 2012.

Quote:

“Long before colonists arrived, American Indian tribes had established different forms of government. These ruling systems served tribes in war and peace. Colonists did not always understand how tribal leadership worked. The Iroquois people lived what is now New York. In Iroquois society, the sachem led only during war. During peacetime, Iroquois women were in charge, The women elected the sachem and decided when the community went to war. This idea was new for the colonists. The British colonists assumed men were the rulers. Speaking to the wrong Iroquois leader could be embarrassing or even deadly. The Powhatan Indians lived near the colonial settlement of Jamestown Virginia. A sachem named Powhatan ruled about 30 tribes and almost 15,000 people. This tribal organization came to be known as the Powhatan Confederacy. A council of advisors and village leaders helped Chief Powhatan make decisions. 

Paraphrase:

• Native Americans had a system of government before the colonists even got there. 
• There were different tribes who had different forms of government.
• The Iroquois tribe was run by women. 
• In times of war, the women in charge would elect a sachem (leader), to lead during the war, and then the women would lead again in peace.
• The colonists assumed the leaders would be men. 
• With the Powhatan Native Americans, they had one sachem at a time. 
• For the time of the Jamestown Fort, Powhatan was the sachem.
• Powhatan ruled 30 tribes and almost 15,000 people.
• It was known as the Powhatan Confederacy.

My Ideas:

I was surprised to hear that the Iroquois tribe had women as leaders. I thought that back in the colonial period, it was even more sexist than it is now. The Native Americans must have been very unprejudiced. The colonists must have been really surprised to hear this too. They probably didn’t even consider the fact that women could lead. It’s cool to compare these two very different tribes. Powhatan controlled pretty much everything. Today in our society, our government is set up very carefully so that no single person could have too much power to themselves. The president often needs approval from congress. The congress often needs approval from the president. This way, if you get stuck with a terrible leader, they can’t do too much damage. But this is not the case with the Powhatans. If Powhatan was a terrible leader, there would be no way to stop him, unless somebody killed him. I know John Smith made friends with Powhatan, but I wonder whether the Africans ever made contact, or attempted to make contact with Powhatan, or any other Native American leaders. How would the Native Americans react to the slaves. I can infer that they probably wouldn’t treat them any differently. They might not have known that they were treated differently by the English because of the color of their skin. The only way they might notice is by the clothes they were wearing. This also might be a way for them to distinguish between the gentry, the middling, and the working classes. I wonder how John Smith would have dressed. He was only a yeoman, but he was still their leader. He probably would have dressed like a person in the middling class.

History:

Created: 10/14/2016 10:43 AM