Guest Writings do not necessarily reflect my own opinions. I am trying to create an open forum. I reserve the right to include any submitted article or not, with or without saying why. If you wish to reproduce any of these writings you must ask permission of the author. At the bottom of each article will be contact information for the author when it is available. |
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Centuries ago the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida Peoples were in a cycle of violence and intertribal war, some of which were blood feuds for revenge. In that world of violence was born the Huron peacemaker Dekanawida. The women had a great deal of strength and helped pull together and appoint some of the wisest and purest men who became the advisors of the people and made the rules that were selected. Under the great tree of peace they became known as Ongwe onwe ("human being") or native, original, true, or natural (Original people). This feat was recorded in the Hiawatha Belt (Wampum Belt), as "The Law of the Great Peace of the People of the Long House." This forum for speakers at the council fires in the first republic of the separate nations was a model which statesmen of the new United States of America used to establish their Congress. The peoples of the new Iroquois League had a rich oral tradition but lacked a written language. Resourcefully, wampum were used as memory aides to record tribal history and sacred pacts. This was done through bead color and design. White beads meant purity, beads reddened with ocher meant war, and purple beads stood for grief. A row of beads in squares signified the council fire. The information conveyed by wampum's design and color was memorized by the wampum keepers and passed from generation to generation. The Hiawatha Belt and the Huron Mohawk Peace Belt of l677 are some examples. These belts are records of peace and unity in The Haudenosaunee Confederacy. |
For a further reading of this article and more stories of Peace read "Chicken Soup for the Soul" --Stories for a better world, copyright 2005 , Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen. http://www.chickensoup.com/ == Http://chickensoup.peacestories.info/ |
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