ONLINE: Turtle Island Confederacies: Relationships and Balance

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Stephanie Stevens

Rebecca Webster is an assistant professor in the American Indian Studies Department, University of Minnesota Duluth.

Been thinking about democracy lately? Same. As the received narrative about the United States and the founding fathers is being revised in many quarters these days, it might be informative to understand that white Europeans did not hatch democracy on this continent. Long before, the Three Fires Confederacy of the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were participatory democracies. The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters' Roots of Democracy Series tackles this topic with a lecture from Rebecca Webster, Margaret Ann Noodin and Richard Monette. This online discussion and Q&A, via Zoom, is open to the public with advance registration.

press release: Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters Roots of Democracy Series lecture, by Rebecca Webster, Margaret Ann Noodin, and Richard Monette

Democracy flourished on the North American continent well before any of the American founding fathers were born. Around 800 CE, the Three Fires Confederacy of the Anishinaabe and, later, between 1450 and 1660 CE, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were established as models of participatory democracy, sustaining peace and cooperation between Indigenous people for many generations.

Join the Wisconsin Academy via Zoom for a Roots of Democracy Series discussion with three First Nations scholars who will explore the conditions that gave rise to these two confederacies and the lessons we can learn from their approaches to democratic principles. This online discussion and Q&A is open to the public with advance online registration (Zoom information is provided upon registration).

The Roots of Democracy series is funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Wisconsin. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wisconsin Humanities strengthens the roots of community life through educational and cultural programs that inspire civic participation and individual imagination.