Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

This belt symbolizes the agreement and conditions under which the Iroquois welcomed the white peoples to this land “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. These two rows will symbolize two paths or two vessels, traveling down the same river together. One, a birch bark canoe, will be for the Indian People, their laws, their customs, and their ways. The other, a ship, will be for the white people and their laws, their customs, and their ways. We shall each travel the river together, side by side, but in our own boat. 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 two-Row Wampum agreement has been kept by the Iroquois to this date.