THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FIVE NATIONS 45 



his comrade Lords to close it shall take the strands of shells in his 

 hands and address the assembled Lords. Thus will the council 

 adjourn until such a time and place as appointed by the council. 

 Then shall the shell strings be placed in a place for safekeeping. 



Every five years the Five Nations Confederate Lords and the 

 people shall assemble together and shall ask one another if their 

 minds are still in the same spirit of unity for the Great Binding 

 Law and if any of the Five Nations shall not pledge continuance 

 and steadfastness to the pledge of unity then the Great Binding 

 Law shall dissolve. (14-XIV, TLL). 



56 Five strings of shell tied together as one shall represent the 

 Five Nations. Each string shall represent one territory and the 

 whole a completely united territory known as the Five Nations 

 Confederate territory. (108-XXV, EUC). 



57 Five arrows shall be bound together very strong and each 

 arrow shall represent one nation. As the five arrows are strongly 

 bound this shall symbolize the complete union of the nations. Thus 

 are the Five Nations united completely and enfolded together, 

 united into one head, one body and one mind. Therefore they shall 

 labor, legislate and council together for the interest of future 

 generations. 



The Lords of the Confederacy shall eat together from one bowl 

 the feast of cooked beaver's tail. While they are eating they are 

 to use no sharp utensils for if they should they might accidentally 

 cut one another and bloodshed would follow. All measures must 

 be taken to prevent the spilling of blood in any way. (15-XV, 

 TLL). 



58 There are now the Five Nations Confederate Lords standing 

 with joined hands in a circle. This signifies and provides that 

 should any one of the Confederate Lords leave the council and 

 this Confederacy his crown of deer's horns, the emblem of his 

 Lordship title, together with his birthright, shall lodge on the arms 

 of the Union Lords whose hands are so joined. He forfeits his 

 title and the crown falls from his brow but it shall remain in the 

 Confederacy. 



A further meaning of this is that if any time any one of the 

 Confederate Lords choose to submit to the law of a foreign peo- 

 ple he is no longer in but out of the Confederacy, and persons of 

 this class shall be called " They have alienated themselves." Like- 

 wise such persons who submit to laws of foreign nations shall for- 

 feit all birthrights and claims on the Five Nations Confederacy and 

 territory. 



