1613 Two Row Wampum Treaty and the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace — Indigenous Diplomacy and Constitutional Influence

Morning Meeting + standing recite Three Promises. Read aloud Onondaga Nation present-day photograph and caption: the Onondaga Nation is the Central Fire of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy today, headquartered in Onondaga NY.

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Present-day Onondaga Nation photograph at opening
• Affirm: 'Today we learn about Indigenous diplomacy — the original sovereign-to-sovereign agreement that shaped colonial-Indigenous relations.'

M-5-F-HIS-14-A Photograph

Photograph of the Onondaga Nation Cultural Center (Onondaga NY, 2024) showing the modern cultural center building and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy flag. Caption: 'Onondaga Nation Cultural Center, Onondaga NY, 2024. The Onondaga Nation is the Central Fire of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy are sovereign and present today.'

THE TWO ROW WAMPUM TREATY 1613: between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (then Five Nations, became Six Nations with Tuscarora 1722) and the Dutch (New Netherland). The treaty is encoded in a wampum belt — two parallel purple rows on a white background, representing two vessels (a canoe and a ship) traveling down the same river, parallel but not mixing, neither steering the other. Articulated principles: PEACE (sovereign-to-sovereign), FRIENDSHIP (mutual aid), and FOREVER (intergenerational). Apply MG-7 routine to the belt as primary source. THE HAUDENOSAUNEE GREAT LAW OF PEACE: an oral-tradition constitutional law established before European contact (~1142 by some accounts) by Peacemaker (Deganawida), Hiawatha, and Jigonsaseh (the Mother of Nations / Clan Mother), unifying the original Five Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca) under one Confederacy. Key features: 50 hoyaneh (chiefs / sachems) chosen by Clan Mothers (women hold this power); each nation maintains internal sovereignty; decisions by consensus; consideration of impact on 'the seventh generation' (future descendants). Tuscarora joined in 1722 making Six Nations. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY: in his 1751 letter to James Parker, Franklin wrote: 'It would be a strange thing if Six Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such an union... and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies.' Franklin used the Iroquois Confederacy as a model for his 1754 Albany Plan of Union (which failed to gain ratification but became a template for the later Articles of Confederation 1781 and US Constitution 1787 entry). Franklin's 1754 'Join, or Die' cartoon explicitly references the need for colonial union — modeled in part on Iroquois.

• Material primary sources — wampum belts — require interpretation by their custodial communities.

  model Sourcing: created 1613 between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Dutch; the belt itself is the primary source (oral-tradition cultures encode treaties in material objects). Contextualization: 1613, when the Dutch were establishing trade posts along the Hudson (Fort Orange / present-day Albany 1614). Close reading: two parallel purple rows on white background; two vessels traveling down the same river, parallel but not mixing; neither steers the other. NMAI 5th move: Haudenosaunee voice present (Onondaga Nation Cultural Center is current custodian); Dutch voice present (van der Donck 1655 reference).

  prompt Apply MG-7 to the Two Row Wampum belt.
• The US Constitution was influenced in part by Indigenous governance models — though this is rarely taught in elementary US history.

  model Benjamin Franklin explicitly cited the Iroquois Confederacy as a model for his 1754 Albany Plan of Union, which became a template for the later Articles of Confederation and US Constitution. Concepts like consensus governance, federalism (each nation maintains internal sovereignty while uniting for common defense), and 'consideration of the seventh generation' have Indigenous origins.

  prompt Why does the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace matter for US founding?

• What does the Two Row Wampum belt represent?
• Why did Franklin cite the Iroquois Confederacy as a model?
• Who are the Clan Mothers in the Haudenosaunee Great Law?

Children apply MG-7 page 1 SOURCING + page 4 CLOSE READING to Benjamin Franklin's 1751 letter to James Parker on the Iroquois Confederacy. Discuss what Franklin's framing reveals about his attitudes (the 'ignorant savages' phrase is itself a primary-source artifact of Franklin's racial-hierarchy assumptions even as he draws Indigenous governance for European model).

M-5-F-HIS-14-B Illustration

High-resolution photograph or detailed illustration of the Two Row Wampum belt — two parallel purple (quahog shell) rows on a white (cowrie shell) background, depicting two vessels (a canoe and a ship) traveling parallel but not mixing on the same river. Caption: 'Two Row Wampum (Kaswentha) — 1613 treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Dutch. The belt encodes the principle of sovereign parallel rivers — neither nation steers the other. PEACE / FRIENDSHIP / FOREVER. Custody: Onondaga Nation Cultural Center.' Style: respectful documentary photograph with proper attribution.

• In small groups, fill out MG-7 on the Two Row Wampum belt as a primary source (using Onondaga Nation educator pack).

  scaffold Sentence frames; partner check.
• Write one paragraph using Sovereignty Promise applied to the Onondaga Nation TODAY and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy today.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'The Onondaga Nation is sovereign and present today, headquartered in Onondaga NY. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy continues to operate today, with Six Nations members.'

• What does the Two Row Wampum belt represent?
• Apply Sovereignty Promise to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy today.
• Why did Franklin cite the Iroquois Confederacy as a model?

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Preview tomorrow: French and Indian War 1754-1763 and the Proclamation Line — the immediate run-up to the Revolution

• Find one source on the Haudenosaunee Confederacy today (Onondaga Nation Cultural Center; Six Nations Polytechnic). Bring back ONE fact about Haudenosaunee present-day activity.