The Two Row Wampum

In our canoe we have all our laws, culture, and beliefs and in your vessel you shall have all your laws, culture, and beliefs, traveling side by side through life as equals never enforcing or interfering in each others affairs as long as the sun shall shine the grass shall grow and the rivers shall flow this will be everlasting.

International Treaties:

Quite often we hear about the Guswentah or Tekeni Teiohate more commonly referred to as The Two Row Wampum Treaty. This treaty made between the Nation of Holland and the Five Nations may have been the first treaty between Onkwehonwe and a European nation, but it was certainly not the first treaty that the Onkwehonwe had ever entered into, in fact Onkwehonwe nations have been engaged in the treaty making process between them for centuries.

The formation of the Kayanerekowa (Great Law of Peace) is a fine example of possibly one of the most highly advanced Peace treaties ever negotiated between sovereign nations. The agreements reached between each of the Five Nations in order to put an end to the conflict that they had been embroiled in, as well as enable each nation to retain their sovereignty and jurisdiction is beyond anything seen in the history of mankind. The first 12 Wampum’s of the Kayanerekowa lays out the procedures and protocol for each nation to follow in order to resolve any issues that may threaten one or all of the Five Nations. These 12 articles also guarantees the jurisdiction and sovereignty of each individual nation so that each nation shall have a forum to voice their position.

Foreign Governments and Their Laws:

The Haudenosaunee viewed all Onkwehonwe who did not live under the umbrella of the Kayanerekowa as a foreign nation referring to them as Ti-ho-ti-na-ke-ra-se-ra-teh (they who live in different places) this would extend to the white man with his arrival in the 1500’s. Different Indian nations who did not follow the Kayanerekowa were still recognized as independent nations and so Wampum 73, which proclaims that ‘People made different, put in different lands and speak different languages” was enacted in order to recognize as well as respect the existence of these other nations. Wampum 71, explained “About emigrating to a distant region” which meant that when an individual [s] of the Five Nations emigrated to a territory away from the territory of the Five nations they would be asked in some cases to return, if they refused to do so then Wampum 58, which states that “anyone who submits to the laws of a foreign nation are alienated and forfeit all claims in their nation” would apply. This principal of respecting the laws of foreign nations as well as the concept of citizenship; came into existence long before the arrival of the white man. Wampum’s 58, 71, and 73 were just three of the many laws adopted into the formation of the Two Row Wampum Treaty.

Nation to Nation:

In an attempt to make it more simple for the European to understand the Two Row Wampum and the idea of respect between nations, our people used the symbols of the white mans vessel and the canoe of our own people to explain the distinct diversities that existed between the Europeans and the Onkwehonwe, explaining that in our canoe we have all our laws, culture, and beliefs and in their vessel they have all their laws, culture, and beliefs, traveling side by side through life as equals never enforcing or interfering in each others affairs as long as the sun shall shine the grass shall grow and the rivers shall flow this will be everlasting.

The Two Row Wampum treaties major objective is to create a dialogue on a nation to nation level which in the process developed the legal concept that only nations can make treaties.