| Home | ||||
|
Iroquois Constitution 1. I am Dekanawidah and with
the Five Nations' Confederate Lords I plant the Tree of Great Peace. I
plant it in your territory, Adodarhoh, and the Onondaga Nation, in the
territory of you who are the Firekeepers. 2. Roots have spread out from
the Tree of the Great Peace, one to the north, one to the east, one to the
south and one to the west. The name of these roots is The Great White
Roots and their nature is Peace and Strength. 3. To you Adodarhoh, the
Onondaga cousin Lords, I and the other Confederate Lords have entrusted
the caretaking and the watching of the Five Nations Council Fire. 4. You, Adodarhoh, and your thirteen cousin Lords, shall faithfully keep the space about the Council Fire clean and you shall allow neither dust nor dirt to accumulate. I lay a Long Wing before you as a broom. As a weapon against a crawling creature I lay a staff with you so that you may thrust it away from the Council Fire. If you fail to cast it out then call the rest of the United Lords to your aid. 5. The Council of the Mohawk shall be divided into three parties as follows: Tekarihoken, Ayonhwhathah and Shadekariwade are the first party; Sharenhowaneh, Deyoenhegwenh and Oghrenghrehgowah are the second party, and Dehennakrineh, Aghstawenserenthah and Shoskoharowaneh are the third party. The third party is to listen only to the discussion of the first and second parties and if an error is made or the proceeding is irregular they are to call attention to it, and when the case is right and properly decided by the two parties they shall confirm the decision of the two parties and refer the case to the Seneca Lords for their decision. When the Seneca Lords have decided in accord with the Mohawk Lords, the case or question shall be referred to the Cayuga and Oneida Lords on the opposite side of the house. 6. I, Dekanawidah, appoint the
Mohawk Lords the heads and the leaders of the Five Nations Confederacy.
The Mohawk Lords are the foundation of the Great Peace and it shall,
therefore, be against the Great Binding Law to pass measures in the
Confederate Council after the Mohawk Lords have protested against them. 7. Whenever the Confederate Lords shall assemble for the purpose of holding a council, the Onondaga Lords shall open it by expressing their gratitude to their cousin Lords and greeting them, and they shall make an address and offer thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the streams of water, the pools, the springs and the lakes, to the maize and the fruits, to the medicinal herbs and trees, to the forest trees for their usefulness, to the animals that serve as food and give their pelts for clothing, to the great winds and the lesser winds, to the Thunderers, to the Sun, the mighty warrior, to the moon, to the messengers of the Creator who reveal his wishes and to the Great Creator who dwells in the heavens above, who gives all the things useful to men, and who is the source and the ruler of health and life. Then shall the
Onondaga Lords declare the council open. 8. The Firekeepers shall
formally open and close all councils of the Confederate Lords, and they
shall pass upon all matters deliberated upon by the two sides and render
their decision. 9. All the business of the Five
Nations Confederate Council shall be conducted by the two combined bodies
of Confederate Lords. First the question shall be passed upon by the
Mohawk and Seneca Lords, then it shall be discussed and passed by the
Oneida and Cayuga Lords. Their decisions shall then be referred to the
Onondaga Lords, (Fire Keepers) for final judgement. 10. In all cases the procedure must be as follows: when the Mohawk and Seneca Lords have unanimously agreed upon a question, they shall report their decision to the Cayuga and Oneida Lords who shall deliberate upon the question and report a unanimous decision to the Mohawk Lords. The Mohawk Lords will then report the standing of the case to the Firekeepers, who shall render a decision as they see fit in case of a disagreement by the two bodies, or confirm the decisions of the two bodies if they are identical. The Fire Keepers shall then report their decision to the Mohawk Lords who shall announce it to the open council. 11. If through any misunderstanding or obstinacy on the part of the Fire Keepers, they render a decision at variance with that of the Two Sides, the Two Sides shall reconsider the matter and if their decisions are jointly the same as before they shall report to the Fire Keepers who are then compelled to confirm their joint decision. 12. When a case comes before the Onondaga Lords (Fire Keepers) for discussion and decsion, Adodarho shall introduce the matter to his comrade Lords who shall then discuss it in their two bodies. Every Onondaga Lord except Hononwiretonh shall deliberate and he shall listen only. When a unanimous decision shall have been reached by the two bodies of Fire Keepers, Adodarho shall notify Hononwiretonh of the fact when he shall confirm it. He shall refuse to confirm a decision if it is not unanimously agreed upon by both sides of the Fire Keepers. 13. No Lord shall ask a question of the body of Confederate Lords when they are discussing a case, question or proposition. He may only deliberate in a low tone with the separate body of which he is a member. 14. When the Council of the
Five Nation Lords shall convene they shall appoint a speaker for the day.
He shall be a Lord of either the Mohawk, Onondaga or Seneca Nation. 15. No individual or foreign nation interested in a case, question or proposition shall have any voice in the Confederate Council except to answer a question put to him or them by the speaker for the Lords. 16. If the conditions which
shall arise at any future time call for an addition to or change of this
law, the case shall be carefully considered and if a new beam seems
necessary or beneficial, the proposed change shall be voted upon and if
adopted it shall be called, "Added to the Rafters".
More Interesting Reading |
