Matrilineal

Latin: mater = mother

Matrilineal = A culture based on female lineage.

Lineage = descent group

Note: These are my first person recollections of direct teachings, passed down for generations, shared with me on the Seneca reservation at the home of Twylah Nitsch, wolf clan grandmother. They may offend your modern beliefs. Let it happen. These people had a culture that is well worth our taking the time to understand and even replicate. They put women first. They put women in charge. They lived in peace, in abundance.

Grandmother Twylah continues sharing the ways of the Great Peaceful Nations with us. Someone puts another log on the fire; sparks fly, like ideas waking up in our minds, illuminating and consuming the woman-hating beliefs we were fed our entire lives.

"We are matrilineal.

"Our clans are matrilineal. Daughters and granddaughters are in their mother's clan, and remain so their entire lives. We marry outside our clan, and the man is token into his wife's clan.

"We are matrilineal.

"Our possessions are kept in the motherline. They pass from mother to daughter to granddaughter.

"We are matrilineal.

"If a husband fails in his responsibilities, if he is cruel or violent, drunken or addicted, the wife may put his moccasins outside the door. There is no question. The children belong to the woman. There is no question. The home belongs to the woman and her girl children. There is no question. The food belongs to the woman and her children. There is no question. The clothes belong to the woman and her children. There is no recourse. There is no question. The husband possesses nothing. He must return to his mother's home.

"This puts a great pressure on mothers," grandmother continues, with twinkling eyes, "to raise boys who put women first and understand that women are in charge."

"The Great Peaceful Nations are matrilineal. And this gives every woman peace.

"The Rainbow Path of Peace is preserved by women. Peaceful cooperation is nourished by women; competition reserved games. Peaceful defense is seen to by the women; offense has no support, no place. Women plan for the peace of future generations with loving kindness. Women understand peace by tending and listening to the wordless things: children, plants, animals, stones.

"The fathers of the United States credited the women of the Peaceful Nations with teaching them how to create a government in which state and religion are kept separate."

"Peace cannot survive religious leaders. What is sacred must be tended always, not just on special days, on special occasions, or with special rituals.

Susun knows that throughout history—and still today—rulers claim the mantle of divinity. From the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt to the Dalai Lama of Tibet, those in power have maintained jurisdiction over both secular and religious affairs. Thomas Jefferson claimed that the Seneca women impressed on him the importance of separating church and state.

"There can be no peace if there are religious leaders," grandmother repeats.

We have been shown how to pray: going clockwise around the room, each person offers a word. That is the prayer. At one point, grandmother tells us she wants us to build a lodge. "A sweat lodge?" we ask.

"Oh, we have no need for that," is her reply. "We already honor the women. The men of our nations are taught that women are the source of all life from their earliest days. They do not forget. They have no reason to follow of the remediations given to the nations that neglect the centrality of women.

"I want a circular lodge big enough for all of us. There we will pray together."

It was done. We gathered. Grandmother asked for a scribe. Going around the circle, we offered our words. The scribe recorded them. Again and again, we went around the circle, speaking word after word, until grandmother stopped us. Then the scribe read our prayer.

My breath is a giveaway dance.

My heart beats with the earth's heartbeat.

I walk in beauty, surrounded by green blessings.