Gifts of the Longhouse invites audiences to reconsider the origins of American democratic thought by centering the governance traditions of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (often referred to historically as the Iroquois Confederacy). The program will examine how its sophisticated systems of governance, diplomacy, consensus-building, and shared power—developed centuries before European contact—were encountered and studied by colonial leaders. It will also explore how these systems have been identified by scholars and institutions as an important influence on early American political thought and the development of the U.S. Constitution.

Live stream here.