THE CONSTITUTIOA OF THE FIVE NATIONS '9 



; There shall you sit and watch the council fire of the Confederacy 

 of the Five Nations. 



Roots have spread out from the Tree of the Great Peace . 

 and the name of these roots is the Great White Roots of Peace. If any 

 man of any nation outside of the Five Nations shall show a desire to 

 obey the laws of the Great Peace . . . they may trace the roots to 

 their source . . . and they shall be welcomed to take shelter beneath 

 the Tree of the Long Leaves. 



The smoke of th.e confederate council fire shall ever ascend and shall 

 pierce the sky so- that all nations may discover the central council fire of 

 the Great Peace. 



I, Dekanawideh, and the confederate lords now uproot the tallest pine 

 tree and into the cavity thereby made we cast all weapons of war. Into 

 the depths of the earth, down into the deep underearth currents of water 

 flowing into unknown regions, we cast all weapons of strife. We bury 

 them from sight forever and plant again the tree. Thus shall all Great 

 Peace be established and hostilities shall no longer be known between 

 the Five Nations but only peace to a united people. 



As one goes further into the unique document, the method by 

 which universal peace is to be established is revealed. All nations 

 were to sit beneath the peace tree and acknowledge the imperial 

 regency of the Five Nations' council. To the Five Nations this 

 seemed a very simple thing for they called themselves Ongweoweh, 

 Original Men, a term that implied their racial superiority. Thus 

 to them it seemed quite natural that other nations should ac- 

 knowledge their right to rule. They never doubted the justness 

 of their claim or saw that it possibly could be disputed. With them 

 it was the basis for universal action. Other nations were inclined 

 to dispute that the Iroquois were inherently superior and naturally 

 rebelled at the idea of submission, even though it might be for 

 their own ultimate benefit. 



From tribe to tribe, tradition shows, ^ the emissaries of the 

 Great Peace went carrying with them the messages in their wam- 

 pum strands, and inviting delegates to sit beneath the Peace Tree 

 and " clasp their arms about it " and to discuss the advantages of 

 an alliance. 



The political success of the Iroquois as a result of their system 

 gave them phenomenal strength and likewise excited widespread 

 jealousy. Thus the Iroquois found themselves plunged in a war 

 for existence and without friends to call upon. 



How a government calling itself the Great Peace provided for 



war is shown in the part of the great immutable law called " Skana- 



watih's Laws of Peace and War." Extracts from these laws 



follow : 



When the proposition to establish the Great Peace is made to a foreign 

 nation it shall be done in mutual council. The nation is to be persuaded 



1 See, for example, The Passamaquoddy Wampum Records by J. D. Prince, 

 page 483, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc, v. 2(>- Also Appendix, page 119 of this 

 bulletin. 



