The Peacemaker’s Message: Recital of the Great Law at the birthplace of The Peacemaker, Tyendinaga
By Danny Beaton
“One of my Ancestors paid me a visit, Danny, and told me it was time to bring the message here of the Great Law and remind the people of the great love and to love one another”. Betty Maracle/Katsitsiase, Mohawk teacher and grandmother of the Haudenosaunee, Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy, is one of my best friends and inspirations in my life. She lives and spends time with her people and family in Tyendinaga.
“We all need each other more than ever and to hold each other up during these times, Danny. Nothing matters more than our children and the teachings of our great culture and Ancestors. We have so many teachings that can bring us all back into a peaceful existence, but we have to want our way of life and seek out our teachers. They are around us; we have to find them. Mother Earth gives us all so much; we never stop giving Thanksgiving to her, Danny!”
We arrived on the third day of the sacred gathering. The Message from The Peacemaker normally takes a week in Sacred Ceremony to pass on. We entered Tyendinaga and could feel the open space and lush forests all around the reservation. The sun was bright, and everything seemed like a dream coming to the birthplace of The Peacemaker. We parked our rented car and entered the Tyendinaga Community Centre, which seemed packed with content people looking at the guest speakers on stage, sometimes creating calmness throughout the large room full of Haudenosaunee people, some in casual dress, others in bright ribbon shirts and dresses. Now and then, the people would start laughing because the speakers were animated and joking. At times, they would refer to the Tadadaho and the Peacemaker combing the Snakes Out of His Hair; then Hiawatha would sing traditional songs that brought great peace and harmony into the camp of the Tadadaho.
In a matter of four hours, the community centre was a room full of intelligent, happy, Indigenous people smiling at one another and loving in unity; the way Katsitsiase had envisioned in her sacred dream. One after another, the Mohawk speakers gave blessings and Thanksgiving for the teachings our Ancestors had given us and struggled to keep our way of life alive because it was The Great Peace that had descended into the community centre. All guest speakers referred to Tom Porter, our Spiritual Leader and Sid Hill, our living Chief of The Chiefs, Tadadaho in Onondaga. All of the guest speakers referred to The Good Mind, The Great Law, and The Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Thanksgiving was offered by the guest speaker to begin the afternoon. The respect in the room was overwhelming. Before the closing of the Great Law, every speaker referred to The Tree of Peace, where we had buried our weapons of war and united into the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy and introduced democracy, peace, power, equality, unity, and the matriarchal role of women.
All of these things were spoken over and over by the sacred guest speakers, Spencer Lyons Onondaga Hawk Clan, Wayne Abrams Seneca Turtle Clan, Richard Mitchell Mohawk Wolf Clan, Cleaveland Dehatgahdohs Thomas Onondaga Beaver Clan, Teha’nikonhráthe Mohawk (Tyendinaga) Wolf Clan, Bob Brown Oneida Bear Clan, Leroy “Jock” Hohahes Hill Cayuga Bear Clan, Rick Hill Tuscarora Beaver Clan, and Brennen Ferguson Tuscarora Turtle Clan.
Rick Hill, Tuscarora Beaver Clan orator, concluded: “Only through these teachings of our Ancestors can we find peace and harmony in this life and world.”
It was all the guest speakers who concluded that our Ancestors gave us these teachings to follow and live a good life, and as long as we honoured our sacred Mother Earth, she would continue to take care of her children.
On our way home, the driver looked at me and said that she was the only non-Indigenous person in the gathering of hundreds of Indigenous people, and that she had never seen so many respectful and peaceful people in her life. I told Jenny that she never knew she would have moose, deer, Three Sisters soup, berries, and so much more for lunch. We were feasted by the Tyendinaga Mohawks and were coming home to share the message that was passed onto us.
Thousands of years ago, near the Great Lakes, five tribes were killing each other, warring against each other. Soon, a man heard about this and decided that he would try to stop the violence across the lake. He got into a sacred canoe made of stone and began to head where the five tribes were warring. He came to a place where it was full of dark swamps, and he called out to anyone who might be living there. A very strong, muscled warrior came out filthy. Snakes were living in his hair, and he was mean. He answered that yes, he lived there, and asked what he wanted.
The Peacemaker answered: “I want to talk about peace and hope the five tribes will put away their weapons.”
The man, who was the leader of the vicious killing tribes, asked: “Why should we stop fighting now?”
The Peacemaker replied: “I will make you Chief of The Chiefs and you will be our leader of our tribes forever, if you bury your weapons of war under The Tree I will plant, which will be our spiritual symbol, The Great White Pine, under the White Roots of this pine tree. You will be called Tadadaho, Chief of The Chiefs among the five Nations: Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga.
The Peacemaker then combed all the snakes out of Tadadaho’s hair.
The Peacemaker said: “From this day on, we will follow The Great Law and become a Confederacy of The Five Nations. The French will call us The Iroquois, and we will call ourselves the Haudenosaunee. We will follow a Matriarchal Society and our Clan Mothers will lead our people in a unified democratic way of life.