6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The Iroquois constitution is mentioned by both Morgan and 

 Hale, but neither seems to have been able to make a transcript 

 and translation of it. All the Iroquois nations were acquainted 

 with it and extracts from the law are found in many of the speeches 

 of their sachems, as recorded by historians, notably the French 

 explorers and Colden. 



The version of the constitution now held authentic by the Iroquois 

 of New York and Ontario, embraces a narrative of the events 

 in the lives of Hiawatha and Dekanawida that lead up to its founda- 

 tion. Its special interest lies in the fact that it is an attempt of 

 the Iroquois themselves to explain their own civic and social system. 

 It is therefore an invaluable guide to many interesting branches of 

 Iroquois ethnology. Many of the facts contained in this document 

 are familiar to students, but that they formed a part of a definite 

 system of law will perhaps be new. Several of the wampum belts 

 in the New York State Museum are constitutional belts or 

 memorials. 



Originally the Five Nations of Iroquois were similar to other 

 Indian tribes or bands — independent bodies with similar dialects 

 and similar customs but with no political coherence. Each man 

 and each tribe to itself, was the rule. Often the individual nations 

 warred with one another, and with external enemies pressing them 

 from all quarters they found themselves in a precarious situation. 

 The very peril in which they lived developed their strategic ability 

 and fostered diplomacy. It likewise produced leaders and finally 

 the great lawgiver who should bring about peace and unity and 

 make the Iroquois the " Indians of Indian," the " Romans of the 

 New World." Hale referred to Hiawatha as the " lawgiver of the 

 Stone age "^ but Hiawatha does not deserve the title. He was only 

 the spokesman of a greater mind. The Mohawk nation recognizes 

 in Dekanawida its great culture hero and the founder of its civic 

 system, giving Haiyentwatha (Hiawatha) a second place. Nearly 

 all authorities among the other nations of the five agree in this 

 and attribute to Dekanawida the establishment of the Great Peace. 

 The prefatory articles of the Great Immutable Law recognize him 

 as such and represent him as saying: 



I am Dekanawideh and with the Five Nations' confederate lords I 

 plant the Tree of the Great Peace. I plant it in your territory Adodarhoh 

 and the Onondaga Nation, in the territory of you who are fire keepers. 



I name the tree the Tree of the Great Long Leaves. Under the shade 

 of this Tree of the Great Peace we spread the soft, white, feathery down 

 of the globe thistle as seats for you, Adodarhoh and your cousin lords. 



^ Proc. Amer. Ass'n. Adv. Sci., 30:324. 1881. 



