Living Witnesses
Living Witnesses
Living Witnesses are people who carry, remember, and affirm what has occurred. They are not observers of law — they are part of the law itself.
Authority, responsibility, and accountability do not exist without witnesses.
Who Living Witnesses are
Living Witnesses may include:
- elders
- name holders
- house members
- invited witnesses from other houses or communities
They are chosen because they are trusted to remember accurately and to speak truthfully when required.
What Living Witnesses do
Living Witnesses:
- observe decisions, transfers, and acknowledgments
- confirm that protocol was followed
- remember obligations created by events
- recall commitments when disputes arise
- speak publicly when memory must be restored
Their responsibility continues long after the event itself.
Living Witnesses as enforcement
Living Witnesses are an active mechanism of law.
When responsibilities are violated, witnesses may:
- recall what was acknowledged in feast
- challenge false or revised claims
- affirm loss of legitimacy
- support correction, restitution, or intervention
Witness silence is deliberate. Witness speech is decisive.
Relationship to adaawk
Adaawk preserve law across generations. Living Witnesses carry law in the present.
Together they ensure:
- continuity of authority
- resistance to revision or erasure
- accountability across time
Written records may fade. Witness memory speaks.
Limits of authority without Living Witnesses
Authority claimed without witnesses is weak. Authority contradicted by witnesses is contested.
Without Living Witnesses:
- agreements lose force
- violations go unanswered
- law becomes vulnerable to denial or reinterpretation
Core principle
Law lives in people. As long as Living Witnesses live, responsibility remains visible.