Tree of Peace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tree of Peace is the symbol of the Iroquois constitution known as the Gayanashagowa (or Great Law of Peace) given by a Huron Indian called The Great Peacemaker to the Iroquois people hundreds of years before the European discovery of America.
The Great Law of Peace message of The Great Peacemaker was brought to the Iroquois people by Hiawatha who united the quarreling tribes and forged an alliance that made the Five Nations into the most powerful force in North America until the 18th century rapid expansion of European colonization.
The Great Law of Peace ended the ancient cycle of enmity and continuous conflict between the separate tribes. It established a covenant between the Iroquois people, uniting them into a single nation known as the Iroquois Confederacy.
Between 1710 and 1713, the Tuscarora tribe was forced out of its homeland by white settlers and following the Tree of Peace, relocated to reside with the Oneida tribe in central New York. In 1722, they were officially incorporated into the Five Nations creating the Six Nations.
For decades, the Iroquois had urged the English colonists to unite together as one independent and free people. They attended the Continental Congress as it composed the United States Declaration of Independence and then after their Iroquois Constitution drafted the Constitution of the United States.
The white pine tree with its five needles together became the symbol of the Five Nations joined together as one in the Iroquois Confederacy. This tree as a badge of unity was adopted by the rebelling American nation to represent its united purpose to establish itself as a free and independent nation.
