The Iroquois Confederacy
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it for anyone interested in legal systems, governance, or history.
What it is
Historia Civilis explains the origins and governing system of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. It covers the Great Law and the league's surprisingly intricate legal and political structure.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2018 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec andrewxdiamond · 2020-07 · on “Iroquois Nationals, barred from World Games, gave gift of lacrosse to the world”
The Haudenosaunee (incorrectly referred to as the Iroquois) have a fascinating and complex legal system. This video explained the system and how it came to be. Highly recommend for anyone interested in legal systems or history in general [this video]
Recommends bane · 2018-07 · on “Legal Systems Very Different from Ours”
Interesting, there's a great video on the governing system of the Iroquois Confederacy, which is surprisingly intricate. [this video]
Cites JumpCrisscross · 2025-03 · on “Macron to open debate on extending French nuclear protection to European allies”
> in the delusion of a united Europe, in which Germany is willing to subordinate itself to France The Haudenosaunee a/k/a Iroquois had a unique confederacy consisting of two dominant and a few lesser powers [1][2]. And the Roman Republic had two consuls, including on campaign. Maybe a nuclear command inspired by both is the answer: any launch requires codes from each of Paris, Berlin and the head of state of the country actually launching. (Practically, the Germans are sort of irrelevant given they not only have no nuclear weapons, they’re also dismantling their civil nuclear expertise. I’m assuming they grow up and reärm. Otherwise, centralising nuclear power in Paris doesn’t depend on Germ