Pro­ba­b­ly as ear­ly as 1142, a si­mi­lar form of de­mo­cra­cy was estab­lished by De­ga­na­wi­dah, the so-called Gre­at Pea­ce­ma­ker, brought to the In­di­an peo­p­les of North Ame­ri­ca and an­cho­red in the Law of the Gre­at Peace. This law al­so ga­ve ri­se to the Se­ven Ge­ne­ra­ti­ons Prin­ci­ple which sta­tes that every ac­tion should be cho­sen in such a way that the co­ming ge­ne­ra­ti­ons, in­clu­ding the se­venth, will find a beau­tiful and liveable earth.

The so­cial or­der was ba­sed on the prin­ci­ple of who­len­ess in which man was per­cei­ved as a part of the who­le and the who­le as a part of man. In the coun­cil mee­tings, in ad­di­ti­on to clan lea­ders, or­di­na­ry men, wo­men, and child­ren we­re free to voice their con­cerns and par­ti­ci­pa­te in decision-making. Wo­men we­re equal to men and even held a cen­tral func­tion in the com­mu­ni­ty as so-called “Clan Mo­thers”. De­cis­i­ons we­re usual­ly ma­de by con­sen­sus, whe­re ever­yo­ne ac­tively par­ti­ci­pa­tes in fin­ding a de­cis­i­on, which is for the good of the com­mu­ni­ty, together.

The so­cial or­der ba­sed on the Se­ven Ge­ne­ra­ti­ons Prin­ci­ple has be­en and con­ti­nues to be prac­ti­ced by the Hau­de­no­sau­nee  (al­so known as the “peo­p­le of the longhouse”).