Iroquois Quote by Howard Zinn
““In the villages of the Iroquois, land was owned in common and worked in common. Hunting was done together, and the catch was divided among the members of the village. Houses were considered common property and were shared by several families. The concept of private ownership of land and homes was foreign to the Iroquois. A French Jesuit priest who encountered them in the 1650s wrote: 'No poorhouses are needed among them, because they are neither merchants nor paupers… Their kindness, humanity and courtesy not only makes them liberal with what they have, but causes them to possess hardly anything except in common.””
About This Quote
Source Book: A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn, 1980
The Iroquois practiced communal ownership of land and homes, sharing resources and responsibilities, contrasting sharply with European private property concepts.
In simple terms: Communal living shared resources and private
Key Takeaway
.Collective sharing fosters mutual support.
Themes
community
cooperation
shared resources
collective ownership
social equity
Mood
reflective
thoughtful
Type
historical
sociological
When to use this quote
- historical analysis
- social policy
- community building
- education
- activism
Key Concepts
Anthropology
communalism
economic systems
Questions to Reflect On
- How would modern societies benefit from more shared resources?
- What challenges arise when integrating communal practices into capitalist economies?
A Different Perspective
Communal ownership can clash with individualist legal frameworks.
