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There Is No America Without Native America

   By Joshua Arce

As the United States celebrates 250 years of independence, there is an important part of America’s story that deserves greater recognition—one that began long before 1776.

For centuries before the United States existed, Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island governed their societies with systems of leadership, diplomacy, and accountability. They balanced individual rights with collective responsibility and viewed leadership as a service rather than a position of power.

America’s 250th anniversary is an opportunity to recognize the first democracies that helped shape this continent.

One remarkable moment took place in 1744 during treaty negotiations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

An Onondaga leader named Canassatego addressed representatives from the American colonies, who at the time were politically divided, vulnerable, and uncertain of their future.

His advice has echoed through history:

“We heartily recommend union and good agreement between you our brethren. Never disagree, but preserve a strict friendship for one another, and thereby you, as well as we, will become the stronger.”

More than thirty years before the Declaration of Independence, Indigenous leaders were already demonstrating principles of diplomacy and shared governance that would later define the American experiment.

The First Democracies of Turtle Island

Long before the United States Constitution was drafted, Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island had developed systems of governance based on accountability, consensus, and mutual responsibility. American democracy developed alongside Native Nations whose political systems were observed, negotiated with, and admired by colonial leaders.

Among the most influential was the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora Nations under the Great Law of Peace.

The Confederacy balanced unity with the sovereignty of each Nation while establishing systems of checks and balances, clearly defined leadership responsibilities, procedures for removing leaders, and distinctions between civil and military authority.

Rather than concentrating authority in one individual, many Native Nations entrusted different responsibilities to civil leaders, war leaders, spiritual leaders, clan leaders, and councils. Decisions were often reached through deliberation, persuasion, and consensus rather than domination or simple majority rule.

No voice was considered disposable.

These systems reflected a belief that societies are strongest when leadership is shared and decisions consider future generations.

Indigenous Influence on the Founding of the United States

For colonial leaders who lived alongside Native Nations, these systems were impossible to ignore.

Benjamin Franklin openly admired the unity of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and circulated speeches from Indigenous leaders encouraging the colonies to unite in similar ways. Although historians continue to debate the extent of Indigenous influence on the U.S. Constitution, there is little doubt that many members of the Founding generation were familiar with Native political systems and drew inspiration from them.

That influence received formal recognition in 1988 when the United States Senate acknowledged that the confederation of the original thirteen colonies was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy and by democratic principles reflected within it.

But America’s founding story is also one of contradictions.

The same nation that celebrated liberty and self-government simultaneously displaced Indigenous peoples from their homelands. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that “all men are created equal” while describing Native peoples as “merciless Indian Savages.”

As the United States expanded westward, Native Nations endured warfare, broken treaties, forced removal, assimilation policies, and the steady erosion of Tribal sovereignty.

American democracy grew alongside Indigenous dispossession.

Federal Indian policy became increasingly paternalistic. Supreme Court decisions such as the Marshall Trilogy reshaped Tribal sovereignty within a legal system built largely without Indigenous consent. Native lands diminished, families and communities were divided, and languages and cultures were deliberately targeted for erasure.

Understanding this history does not diminish America’s story—it completes it. The story of the United States is incomplete without appreciating the first peoples of Turtle Island.

Native Nations endured and were made before America.

Native Nations Continue to Lead

Despite centuries of violence, displacement, and policies intended to erase Indigenous identity, Native Nations endured.

Today, Tribal Nations continue to govern while preserving the languages, cultures, and traditions that have sustained Native peoples since time immemorial.

The United States may be celebrating 250 years, but Indigenous peoples have maintained their responsibilities to these lands and to one another for thousands of years.

Many Native communities continue to confront challenges rooted in generations of historical injustice, including food insecurity, inadequate housing, limited infrastructure, water access issues, educational inequities, and health disparities.

Across Indian Country, Tribal citizens continue to demonstrate the values that have guided Indigenous leadership for centuries: collective care, resilience, and responsibility.

At Partnership With Native Americans (PWNA), we are honored to work alongside reservation-based partners who are strengthening their communities by combining immediate support with long-term, Native-led solutions.

How You Can Become #NativeAware

As America reflects on 250 years of democracy, each of us has an opportunity to recognize the Indigenous Nations whose systems of governance helped shape this country’s development and whose people continue to strengthen it today.

One way to honor that legacy is by becoming #NativeAware.

Being #NativeAware is a simple approach to deeper understanding. Adding a few of these to your activities this year will yield volumes of historical understanding, professional development, and amazing stories of resilience. As commemorative as this year is, do not miss the opportunity for growth, culture, and enrichment.

  • Learn about the Tribal Nations in your state and the history of their homelands.
  • Read books, articles, or watch documentaries created by Native authors, historians, and filmmakers.
  • Visit Native museums, cultural centers, or public events that celebrate Indigenous cultures.
  • Support Native-owned businesses, artists, and entrepreneurs.
  • Share what you’ve learned with your family, friends, and community.
  • Support Native-led organizations partnering with Tribal communities to strengthen food security, education, healthcare, housing, and economic opportunity.

As America celebrates 250 years, let us remember that the story of the United States is incomplete without the first peoples of Turtle Island.

Their Nations endure. Their voices matter. And their wisdom continues to offer lessons for generations still to come.