Elders are recognized through age, experience, and conduct

Elders Are Recognized Through Age, Experience, and Conduct

Statement

Elders are recognized through age, experience, and conduct.

Meaning

In Tsm’syen law, elder status is not assigned, elected, or granted by office.

Elders are recognized over time through:

• Age lived within the community
• Experience carrying responsibility
• Consistent lawful conduct

Recognition arises naturally through observation and trust.

Age

Age reflects time lived under law.

It carries:

• Exposure to multiple generations
• Memory of change and continuity
• Perspective shaped by consequence
• Familiarity with long-standing ayaawx and adaawx

Age alone is not sufficient, but it matters.

Experience

Experience reflects responsibility carried.

It includes:

• Participation in disputes and restorations
• Witnessing lawful and unlawful conduct
• Service to house, clan, or community
• Enduring the outcomes of decisions made

Experience without responsibility does not create elder authority.

Conduct

Conduct confirms legitimacy.

Recognition depends on:

• Restraint in the use of influence
• Willingness to be corrected
• Respect for limits and jurisdiction
• Refusal to dominate or exploit
• Accountability before witnesses

Past conduct remains relevant.

Recognition, not appointment

Elders are not created by:

• Titles
• Committees
• Elections
• External recognition
• Self-identification

Elder status exists only while recognition continues.

Loss of recognition

Recognition may weaken or withdraw when:

• Conduct becomes harmful or self-serving
• Trust is broken
• Law is misused or ignored
• Authority is claimed rather than demonstrated

Respect does not prevent correction.

Relationship to law

Elder recognition supports law but does not override it.

Elders remain subject to:

• Ayaawx
• Adaawx
• Witnesses
• Lawful limits

Cross-references

• Elders as Interpreters of Law
• Elders are Carriers of Legal Memory
• Authority Arises from Trust, Conduct, and Knowledge
• Elders Operate Within, Not Above, Tsm’syen Law
• Interpretation Does Not Equal Unilateral Decision-Making
• Witnesses and Public Memory
• Limits on Authority
• Balance Across Houses and Clans
• Names as Legal Continuity