The Iroquois Constitution

The Iroquois was a powerful tribe of Native Americans who lived in what is now the
Northeastern United States. During the fourteenth century, an Iroquoian mystic and
prophet named Dekanawidah traveled from village to village urging the Iroquoian
speaking peoples to stop fighting and band together in peace in brotherhood.
Dekanawidahs efforts led to the foundation of the Iroquois Confederation of the Five
Nation, a league of five Iroquois tribes: Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, and
Onondaga.
Constitutions. A constitution is a written or unwritten system of fundamental laws and
principals governing a society. The Iroquois Constitution, which was originally unwritten,
was first presented to confederate lords of the Five Nations in a speech by Dekanawidah.
The confederate lords memorized it and recorded it in symbols on strings of shells.
In most constitutions, laws and principals are listed in straightforward, factual manner.
Because the Iroquois Constitution was spoken rather than written, it had to be presented
in way that would hold the listeners attention. Thereafter, it uses elegant phrasing and
metaphors to describe the foundation of the confederation and the system by which the
confederation will be governed.
Three Principles emphasized in the Iroquois Constitution:
1. Open membership
2. Justice for all
3. Integrity of the pledged word
Consider: What does the Council Fire represent?
The fire represents the peace that exists between nations and the hope that it will be
everlasting.
What is the function of the confederate council?
It is responsible for relations with foreign tribes, and it makes laws for the confederacy.
What sort of behavior is expected of its members?
They must be honest, unbiased, and just in their actions. However, their justice must be
tempered with mercy. In their deliberations, they should be calm rather than emotional.
They should respond well to criticism. They must consider the welfare of all people, now
and in the future.

Metaphor:
An implied comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things without the use of like
or as.
In most constitutions the rules and principals are presented in a direct manner. In contrast,
many of the ideas in the Iroquois Constitution are revealed through metaphors.

For what is the planting of the Tree of Great Knowledge a metaphor?

***The establishment of peace among the five nations.
What does Dekanawidahs comment mean when he says that any nation outside of
the Five Nations shall be welcomed to take shelter beneath the Tree of Long
Leaves?
That other tribes will be able to join the confederation.
Vocabulary:
confederate
disposition
deliberation