General Discussion

" But you and I know this war will not have any real victors and that, once it is over, we will have to go on living together forever on the same soil." -- Albert Camus

I just got home from addressing an audience -- some Democrats, some maga, plus many I don't know about -- about the Iroquois influence on the colonial settlers during the Revolutionary War. About 1/3 of the whites wanted independence, 1/3 wanted to stay connected to England, and 1/3 were lucky they didn't have to read stupid arguing between old former friends on facebook. I spoke of the rallies in Boston leading up to the Boston Tea Party -- an estimated 7,000 out of a total population of 16,000 had taken part in protests against the new taxes. The organizers had actually tried to get Mohawk support for the dumping of the tea. And many dressed like Mohawk warriors.

I spoke of meetings the Iroquois leadership participated in with the Founding Fathers. When Franklin introduced his Plan of Union, it was similar to the Iroquois Confederacy. Ben proposed to call Congress the "grand council." It was rejected, and then Franklin's friend Joseph Galloway would introduce his plan of union. Though it really didn't get any serious support, I mentioned it because of a family relationship. Then the Articles of Confederation, then the Constitution.

I told of how Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman, Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, and I used to discuss that era. I asked what their ancestors greatest contributions to the Founding Fathers were? The Power of Ideas and the Power of the Good Mind were their answers. Neither dynamic -- one individual, one group, allows for people who want to live in peace to cling to petty hostilities, as advocated for in the OP. People need to reach a higher level of consciousness, and that cannot happen unconsciously, when one is saturated by negative emotions.

I ended by saying that I think our Constitution is a work of genius. It's the product of the Power of the Good Mind. I said that people need to read that and those other historic documents, because we are at risk of losing them.