Summer book club: American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence

(m)otherboard is excited to announce our next book club text, American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence.

Matrilineal governance has always been here! Reflecting on the suppressed history of indigenous influence on democracy in America and grounding in present practices of Haudenosaunee leaders, we can imagine more interdependent models of governance we wish to cocreate in the future.

God(m)others Mara and Sara, along with (m)otherboard member MCK have been in deep engagement with a 10-week booklet club leading up to the publication and launch of this book. We are excited to share and discuss the full collection of essays with the wider (m)otherboard membership.

Through eighteen eloquent essays, we hear contemporary Haudenosaunee leaders and scholars speak about governance practices in present-day reservations, and most importantly, about the Great Law of Peace, the unifying code of governance that united these once warring tribes into one of the most formidable, and truly democratic league of nations that the continent has ever witnessed. American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence invites us to look back and outside of our cultural, social, and political box in order to move ourselves and our country towards a more just and peaceful place. Learn more about the book at americanindigenousdemocracy.com.

We'll meet over two sessions, organized around five themes, with clips from the Rematriated Voices series woven throughout:

📕 Part 1: July 29 7–9 PM ET
📗 Part 2: August 12 7–9 PM ET

At the core these Haudenosaunee teachings is an understanding of our interdependence with each other and the natural world, which is deeply accepted as a self-evident truth. This web of life informs these indigenous governance principles:

• Women at the center of governance.
• Humans live in reciprocity with the natural world.
• Every decision should consider seven generations ahead.
• Peace is the highest calling of government.
• Law is rooted in the sacred and aligned with life.

From Sara: This book reminds us how to live. How to remember that we all stem from the mother and mother earth. How to tap into our matrilineal roots. How to lead with peace. How to make space for grief and condolence so we can meet each other more clearly. How to think about the impacts of our decisions on timescales seven generations into the future. How to be in interdependence. How to rematriate ourselves. These principles have been alive in Haudenosaunee practice for generations. It’s time for us to reintegrate these principles into present governance in order for us—as a society and as a planet—to survive many generations into the future. – Sara M. Watson, (m)otherboard god(m)other

From Mara: For much of my life, I’ve believed that electing a woman as president was the final threshold. Reading this book invites imaginative perspective. The alternative is hiding in plain sight. There intact, matrilineal cultures native to this land where women’s leadership is already at the center. What might we learn from them? If we look at our political parties and dysfunction as a bunch of squabbling children, what we need is a mother’s steady hand to referee. It requires care, relationality and listening. It requires remembering why we’re doing any of this to begin with: so our children can inherit a better world. This is not the bandaid of a single party victory or the election of a heroic leader. This book is a map of that good thinking that offers a path out of our present predicament. – Mara Zepeda, God(m)other, (m)otherboard & co-founder of Zebras Unite

We look forward to discussing these indigenous origins of matrilineal governance with you all.

In interdependence,
The God(m)others