2 Row Wampum Treaty | KM Red Hoop Wisdom

Two Row Wampum Treaty

How it all began was five autonomous tribes had come together to form an alliance known as the League of Five Nations, or the Iroquois Confederacy. The five member nations were the Onondaga, the Cayuga, the Oneida, the Mohawk, and the Seneca. The purpose of the League was to renounce warfare among the member nations and to present a unified front against other nations. The League was created because of the spiritual vision of one man-Deganawida-and the speaking ability of another-Hiawatha.

The 1613 agreement was recorded by the Haudenosaunee in a wampum belt known as the Two Row Wampum.

The Two Row Wampum Treaty, also known as Guswenta or Kaswhenta and as the Tawagonshi Agreement of 1613 or the Tawagonshi Treaty, is a mutual treaty agreement, made in 1613 between representatives of the Five Nations of the Iroquois(Haudenosaunee) and representatives of the Dutch government in what is now upstate New York. The agreement is considered by the Haudenosaunee to be the basis of all of their subsequent treaties with European and North American governments, and the citizens of those nations, including the Covenant Chain treaty with the British in 1677 and the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States in 1794.

The treaty is spiritually and culturally revered and widely accepted among the Indigenous peoples in the relevant territories, and documented by the wampum belts and oral tradition

The 1613 agreement was recorded by the Haudenosaunee in a wampum belt known as the Two Row Wampum.

The Haudenosaunee tradition states "As long as the Sun shines upon this Earth, that is how long our [Two Row Wampum] Agreement will stand; Second, as long as the Water still flows; and Third, as long as the Grass Grows Green at a certain time of the year. Now we have Symbolized this Agreement and it shall be binding forever as long as Mother Earth is still in motion." The treaty is considered by Haudenosaunee people to still be in effect!

This wampum records the meaning of the agreement, which declared peaceful coexistence between the Haudenosaunee and Dutch settlers in the area. Haudenosaunee tradition also records the specific meaning of the belt as follows, in the form of a Haudenosaunee reply to the initial Dutch treaty proposal:

"You say that you are our Father and I am your Son. We say 'We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers.' This wampum belt confirms our words. [...] Neither of us will make compulsory laws or interfere in the internal affairs of the other. Neither of us will try to steer the other's vessel."

The pattern of the belt consists of two rows of purple wampum beads against a background of white beads. The purple beads signify the courses of two vessels — a Haudenosaunee canoe and a European ship — traveling down the river of life together, parallel but never touching. The three white stripes denote peace and friendship.

“In the 1600’s, when the Dutch had settled in what is now Albany and the surrounding area, we were looking at them as people who were coming into our territory with a different language, different culture, different ideas, but a people. Runners came from the Mohawk territory. They came to Onondaga to ask Tadodaho to call a meeting of the leaders of the Haudenosaunee, because we had people coming into our territory. We must decide how we are going to live together with the people who had entered our house and were living in a couple of our empty rooms. They were uninvited and they were destructive……

Under the protocol set up by the Peacemaker, some delegates were chosen, they went to Albany to meet with the leaders of the Dutch to discuss our concerns. After a time our leaders struck an agreement with the Dutch people, an agreement whereas they would live together in peace.

Our leaders informed the Dutch people. “From this day forward we will refer to each other as brothers.” The Dutch agreed that this would be how we would conduct ourselves and greet each other from that day forward as brothers. The Dutch said to us, “We have pencils and paper, and so we will record this event on a piece of paper.”

We said, “That’s fine for you.” When the Haudenosaunee was formed, we were provided with a process to record events. This process is the use of wampum beads, which are made our of quahog shells……In the center of the shell it is purple. So we were given a process at that time to make beads…These beads were then white and purple.

We use these beads for identification, as carriers of messages, and as records of events…..We then informed the Dutch people that we would put our record of this event in a wampum belt."

“We think that in the future, there will come a time when you will not have your piece of paper, But we will still have our belt. Because we are meeting for the health and welfare of our people, we should make sure that this agreement lasts a long time, like forever.”

“Forever” is described by our ancestors in this agreement in the following words: “As long as the grass is green, as long as the water flows downhill, and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.” This is the first place that these words were spoken. Subsequently, you hear them movies, you hear them in various places. The United States used these actual words in some treaties that were made in the 1800s. But they were first spoken here by the Haudenosaunee to shoe that we would make this treaty last forever. We did not think that your paper would survive the times.

Today the sun still sets in the west, just like it did in the 1600s. So that hasn’t changed. The grass is still green. Next to my house there is a creek, and its water runs downhill. That agreement that we made back then is still effect as far as we are concerned.

…The first agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the Europeans who were coming into our country was completed and recorded by the Haudenosaunee. It is called Guswenta, the Two Row Wampum belt…

This is an agreement between our two peoples. This agreement is still in effect because the grass is still green. This was the grandfather of all the treaties, this was the first one that we made. A very important concept was expressed at this time, that concept being that we were equal. At this time the Haudenosaunee was a very powerful, powerful people. We realized that you were a young people, that you were just learning, yet we realized that you were equal. This is a very important issue. You must understand the concept: we recognized you as people and that we were equal.

The Two Row Wampum belt is made of white and purple beads. The white beads denote truth. Our record says that one purple row of beads represents a sailboat. In the sailboat are the Europeans, their leaders, their government, and their religion. The other purple row of beads represents a canoe. In the canoe are the Native Americans, their leaders, their governments, and their Way of Life, or religion as you say it. We shall travel down the road of life, parallel to each other and never merging with each other.

In between the two rows of purple beads are three rows of white beads. The first row of white beads is “peace,” the second row, “friendship,” and the third rolw, “forever.” As we travel down the road of life together in peace and harmony, not only with each other, but with the whole circle of life—the animals, the birds, the fish, the water, the plants, the grass, the trees, the stars, the moon, and the thunder—we shall live together in peace and harmony, respecting all those elements. As we travel the road of life, because we have different ways and different concepts, we shall not pass laws governing the other. We shall not pass laws telling you what to do. You shall not pass a law telling me and my peoplke what to do.

The Haudenosaunee have never violated this treaty…

We have never passed a law telling you how to live…

You and your ancestors, on the other hand, have passed laws that continually try to change who I am, what I am, and how I shall conduct my spiritual, political and everyday life.”

(From, Chief Irving Powless Jr. “Treaty Making,” pp.15-34 in Treaty of Canandaigua 1794, Edited by G. Peter Jemison and Anna M. Schein. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers)

Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons:

“…the famous GUSWENTA or Two Row Wampum Treaty. This belt I hold today is a replica of that Treaty. This particular Treaty is important because it established for all time the process by which we would associate with our White brethren.

The highlights of this agreement are first, we will call one another brothers. This row of purple wampum on the right represents the ongwahoway or Indian people; it is their canoe. In the canoe along with the people is our government, our religion or way of life.

The row of purple on the left is our White brethren, their ship, their government, and their religions for they have many.

The field of white represents peace and the river of life. We will go down this river in peace and friendship as long as the grass is green, the water flows, and the sun rises in the east.

It is this Treaty that those famous words were spoken. You will note the two rows do not come together, they are equal in size, denoting the equality of life, and one end is not finished, denoting the ongoing relationship into the future. With this belt was the Great Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship that is maintained throughout our interwoven histories.

This is a great humanitarian document because it recognizes equality in spite of the small size of the White colony and insures safety, peace and friendship forever, and sets the process for all of our ensuing Treaties up to this moment.

This belt was held by the Dutch, the English, the French , and George Washington representing your present government.”

Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons:

“…the famous GUSWENTA or Two Row Wampum Treaty. This belt I hold today is a replica of that Treaty. This particular Treaty is important because it established for all time the process by which we would associate with our White brethren.

The highlights of this agreement are first, we will call one another brothers. This row of purple wampum on the right represents the ongwahoway or Indian people; it is their canoe. In the canoe along with the people is our government, our religion or way of life.

The row of purple on the left is our White brethren, their ship, their government, and their religions for they have many.

The field of white represents peace and the river of life. We will go down this river in peace and friendship as long as the grass is green, the water flows, and the sun rises in the east.

It is this Treaty that those famous words were spoken. You will note the two rows do not come together, they are equal in size, denoting the equality of life, and one end is not finished, denoting the ongoing relationship into the future. With this belt was the Great Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship that is maintained throughout our interwoven histories.

This is a great humanitarian document because it recognizes equality in spite of the small size of the White colony and insures safety, peace and friendship forever, and sets the process for all of our ensuing Treaties up to this moment.

This belt was held by the Dutch, the English, the French , and George Washington representing your present government.”

In 1710, the Tuscarora had the Susquahannock tribe carry a formal petition of peace to the English Provincial Government of Pennsylvania. As a result, two peace commissioners from Pennsylvania met with the Tuscarora chiefs as well as Opessa, the Shawnee head chief at Conestoga. The Tuscarora chiefs delivered eight wampum belts to the English. The first belt was from the women who asked that they might be able to fetch wood and water without danger. The second belt was from the children, including those not yet born, asking for room to play without the fear of death or slavery. The third belt was from the young men who ask to be able to hunt without the fear of death or slavery. The rest of the belts asked for a lasting peace and for a way of communicating with Pennsylvania.

By 1712, the Tuscarora were involved in a full-scale war against the Europeans colonists in Virginia and the Carolinas. The colonists were regularly attacking Tuscarora villages, killing hundreds, and capturing many Indians who were sold into slavery. The colonists also recruited the Catawba and other tribes in their war of Tuscarora extermination. The English were motivated by their greed for Tuscarora land as well as the profits which could be made through the sale of Tuscarora slaves. The newly captured slaves were generally shipped to the Caribbean slave markets.

The Tuscarora sent wampum belts north to the Iroquois Five Nations asking for help in their fight against the colonists. When the governor of New York heard of this request, he warned the Iroquois not to get involved. The Iroquois promised to ask the Tuscarora to stop fighting if the governor would ask the colonists to put down their arms.

When the Iroquois met with the colonial governor of New York in 1718 to renew the Covenant Chain (a trading agreement), the Iroquois expressed their concern that the English were planning to take over their lands as they had done with the Tuscarora. The English explained that the Tuscarora lost their land because they attacked the colonists in the Carolinas.

In 1722, the Tuscarora formally joined the Iroquois and the League of Five Nations becomes the League of Six Nations. As a member of the League, the Tuscarora are considered the younger brothers of the Cayuga. Their chiefs were not sachem chiefs within the league and thus the number of chiefs who sat in council did not change. In New York, the Tuscarora maintained their village between the Oneida and Onondaga villages.

Original "Six Nations Brace" Wampum Belt

The Peacemaker’s message told of the white roots of peace spreading out in the four directions. That people who follow this message to the source will find the Haudenosaunee. When the new allies were accepted into the Haudenosaunee, it was said that the Haudenosaunee was expanding by adding new “rafters” and extending the union of peace. This belt illustrates the strong union of the 6 nations. Each nation equal under the laws of the Haudenosaunee.