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Life Worth Living is an initiative of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.
Who do we answer to?
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy on Responsibility to Future Generations
Life Worth Living Team
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What do we owe future generations?
Quote + Question + Context
Who do we answer to?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wake up one day 100 years in the future? Sci-fi film makers and fiction writers certainly have, and the pictures often aren’t all that appealing. But the future is more than just a fictional moment we can go to in our imaginations: many years from now real people, many of our own descendants, will be here on this land, facing new and old challenges. And so the question arises: what do we owe to them?
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribal nations, five original Iroquoian nations of the northeast region of North America. Described as the oldest living “participatory democracy on Earth,” the Confederacy is united by several common values. One such value is the “Seventh Generation,” which offers a distinctive approach to how actions, relationships, and lives should be oriented. In short, today’s responsibility is owed to tomorrow’s people.
Quote
[.alt-blockquote]“Among the nations of the Haudenosaunee is a core value called the Seventh Generation. While the Haudenosaunee encompass traditional values like sharing labour and maintaining a duty to their family, clan and nation and being thankful to nature and the Creator for their sustenance, the Seventh Generation value takes into consideration those who are not yet born but who will inherit the world.[.alt-blockquote]
[.alt-blockquote]“In their decision making Chiefs consider how present day decisions will impact their descendants. Nations are taught to respect the world in which they live as they are borrowing it from future generations. The Seventh Generation value is especially important in terms of culture. Keeping cultural practices, languages, and ceremonies alive is essential if those to come are to continue to practice Haudenosaunee culture.”[.alt-blockquote]
[.alt-blockquote-attribution]—Haudenosaunee Confederacy[.alt-blockquote-attribution]
Questions
- What are some decisions made by generations past that concretely impact your life today?
- How might responsibility to future generations create tension between yourself and others in our contemporary world? How might it create relief?
- Might there be a risk of responsibility to future generations distracting from our responsibilities for each other today?
- How might your life change if you began considering future generations in your decision making?
Context
Quote + Question + Context
Who do we answer to?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wake up one day 100 years in the future? Sci-fi film makers and fiction writers certainly have, and the pictures often aren’t all that appealing. But the future is more than just a fictional moment we can go to in our imaginations: many years from now real people, many of our own descendants, will be here on this land, facing new and old challenges. And so the question arises: what do we owe to them?
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribal nations, five original Iroquoian nations of the northeast region of North America. Described as the oldest living “participatory democracy on Earth,” the Confederacy is united by several common values. One such value is the “Seventh Generation,” which offers a distinctive approach to how actions, relationships, and lives should be oriented. In short, today’s responsibility is owed to tomorrow’s people.
Quote
[.alt-blockquote]“Among the nations of the Haudenosaunee is a core value called the Seventh Generation. While the Haudenosaunee encompass traditional values like sharing labour and maintaining a duty to their family, clan and nation and being thankful to nature and the Creator for their sustenance, the Seventh Generation value takes into consideration those who are not yet born but who will inherit the world.[.alt-blockquote]
[.alt-blockquote]“In their decision making Chiefs consider how present day decisions will impact their descendants. Nations are taught to respect the world in which they live as they are borrowing it from future generations. The Seventh Generation value is especially important in terms of culture. Keeping cultural practices, languages, and ceremonies alive is essential if those to come are to continue to practice Haudenosaunee culture.”[.alt-blockquote]
[.alt-blockquote-attribution]—Haudenosaunee Confederacy[.alt-blockquote-attribution]
Questions
- What are some decisions made by generations past that concretely impact your life today?
- How might responsibility to future generations create tension between yourself and others in our contemporary world? How might it create relief?
- Might there be a risk of responsibility to future generations distracting from our responsibilities for each other today?
- How might your life change if you began considering future generations in your decision making?
Context
Pairings
Our responses to life's big questions are meant to form a coherent whole—a vision of life worth living. A response to one question will fit well with certain responses to other questions, but it will be incompatible with others. We've provided the "Pairs Well With" and "Pairs Poorly With" sections for this article to help you consider these questions of coherence.
Pairs Well With
- Analects of Confucius
- Environmentalism
- Longtermism
Pairs Poorly With
- Quarterly profit-seeking
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