Talk:Seven generation sustainability

Source Checking
I have so far failed to find a copy of the Great Law of the Iroquois which contains the quoted statement. Can anyone help? Finog (talk) 07:12, 16 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I suspect it is an urban legend. Paul Studier (talk) 07:44, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

How Long?
How long is this? Can one take a generation to be 20 years? So one must consider consequences up to 140 years from now? Paul Studier (talk)
 * Perhaps 25 x 7 = 175 is a better estimate. --Lbeaumont (talk) 10:51, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Definition of seven generations
Hmmm... I do not have a source to back this up, but when I was introduced to the notion, seven generations meant three forward and three back with the seventh being the generation running things. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dchoriki (talk • contribs) 17:13, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

I agree with the 3 forward, 3 back. What is interesting is that we have the potential to know all 7 generations in our lifetime. A very different meaning that the "7 in future" concept. Without citations for either though... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.66.91.39 (talk) 05:46, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Not a quote from the constitution
"In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine." is not in the iroquois constution, as I found when checking the link. The constitution never mentions the seventh generation at all. The only mention of "seven" is " The Lords of the Confederacy of the Five Nations shall e mentors of the people for all time. The thickness of their skin shall be seven spans -- which is to say that they shall be proof against anger, offensive actions and criticism. " That's not speaking about future generations. So where did this concept come from? --Johannes Rohr (talk) 13:08, 11 January 2019 (UTC)
 * The Haudenosaunee constitution is an oral tradition, not a historical document. The written version that's cited in the article is a written version prepared by Arthur C. Parker in 1915. The question of why seven generations wasn't mentioned in that text would be relevant to article but posing it would be an original thought and so would break WP:ORIGINAL. The best course of action would probably be to remove the unsourced "In every deliberation, [...]" quote as well as any references to Parker's version. NuclearElevator (talk) 08:06, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

Sustainability or stewardship?
Is it sustainability or stewardship, or both? The article name and the start of the article don't match. -- DoubleGrazing (talk) 09:16, 19 July 2020 (UTC)

Length of a generation
I’m not sure it’s correct that a generation is the same as a lifespan. I’ve heard it defined as the average time between generational births, maybe 30 years a generation (you have a child at 30, that child might have their child at 30, and so on). This holds true for my own family. My 7th great-grandfather (7th generation) was born in 1725, about 246 years before me. 141.126.133.203 (talk) 02:55, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

Potential Sources

 * https://www.pbs.org/warrior/content/timeline/opendoor/roleOfChief.html - PBS "Seven Generations - the Role of Chief"
 * Does this work? Not optimal, but PBS is pretty reputable, and it has quotes  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eric Lotze (talk • contribs) 19:54, 22 August 2023 (UTC)