Native American Prophecy
The
PEACEMAKER

There once came from the north country, to what is now the upper western portion of New York state, a young man of Huron birth. He was called Deganaweda. Even as a child he talked of a peaceful way of existence and of harmony among the tribes. He spoke of the importance of the heart and called for an end to war-like ways and sacrifices of blood. But he found only deaf ears amongst his own Huron people, for they were war-like and not given to the ways of peace.

Our story begins when Deganaweda began a pilgrimage that would eventually bring his teachings to the five tribes of the Haudenosaunee and later, six when they were joined by the Seneca peoples. He helped them create a confederation of tribes, under a form of self-ruling government, in which there would be no royalty, no tyranny, no need for war. This unification of the tribes would later be referred to as the Great Iroquois Confederacy. Which would include the Mohawk, Onandaga, Tuscarora, Cayuga and Oneida people, who would later be joined by the Seneca and the Mohican. The Mohicans would later be all but wiped out by the Hurons, leaving the Confederacy composed of six nations as it is described in our history books. In the confederacy Daganaweda's words were welcomed with enthusiasm and discussed around the council fires of the elders. During his pilgrimage Deganaweda met Hiawatha. Hiawatha, it is said, lived as a hermit deep within the forest. He lived alone, holding a great bitterness in his heart. He grieved over the slaughter of his family by the blood-thirsty Onadaga chief. It is said that Hiawatha had even taken to cannibalism. Deganaweda was challenged by a Grandmother to share his teachings with Hiawatha. She told him that if he could convince the angry Hiawatha, the beast of the woods, to walk in peace and harmony, then perhaps there was something to this wisdom. If he succeeded in changing the heart of this beast, then all the tribes would surely listen to him.

Deganaweda met with Hiawatha and spoke with him from his heart, for he was filled with the Great Spirit and had no fear. This meeting with Deganaweda caused a transition within Hiawatha’s being. They became inseparable, and from the wisdom taught to him by Deganaweda, Hiawatha became a renewed human being. A great friendship grew between the two, and Hiawatha became Deganaweda’s chief disciple. It is said that Deganaweda suffered from a speech impediment; he had stuttered since childhood. For this reason, Hiawatha became known as the chief spokesperson for Deganaweda’s Great Peace-- the Kia ëneri Kowa.
Both Deganaweda and Hiawatha taught that the human race was one great family. They taught of love and unity, with reverence for the Creator of all mankind and the sacredness and honor of all life. The way of the Great Peace was established. It was a great plan for social order that centered its strength around the family fire. They taught of the inner balance of male and female within the self and in all relationships, the importance of the Mother/Father Principle. This teaching was to spread through the many single family firesides. In the Great Peace it was taught that from these single families would come the basis of authority, leadership and the strength of the people. A natural order of social living was encouraged that allowed for the spiritual expression of all individuals. This concept was intrinsic to the integrity of their society and the establishment of the Long Houses that exist to this day.

In the way of the Great Peace, women are the keepers of the family lineage and as the bearers of life, they teach the knowledge of harmony and balance within the family. The tribe is the extended family, and neighboring tribes should be considered relatives who are necessary for a healthy genetic evolution, an extended family, if you will. The balance within the whole of a society originates with the individual. The balance of male/female within the individual expands to the relationship between man and woman, and then into relationship with their offspring. This then expands into the extended family. All women are mothers to all the children, as are all men their fathers. The tribe was a living ecosystem for human consciousness, a living heart.

Women had equal status within the tribal council. They formed the Council of Grandmothers that looked out for the survival of the family structure above all things, for without the family structure, the people could not continue. No major decision that would affect the tribe as a whole was ever made by one individual of either gender, or any singular council; all councils were accountable to the Council of Grandmothers. Thus, they had devised a matriarchal system whereby no structure of dictatorship could arise and seize power from the people themselves. There simply was no position that allowed for the rise of a tyrant within their society.

The teachings of the Great Peace likened all war to quarreling amongst children. Spiritual teachings were intermingled with the teaching of balance in the social order. In this culture there was no separation between living an abundant, full life and the expression of spiritual practice and beliefs because social laws were created out of an evolved spiritual understanding of human nature. In this manner, human beings learned to live in harmony with nature, thus they dwelt in a state of harmony within themselves. For nature was the kingdom with which humankind shared their dream. Mankind and Womankind were seen as spirit alive in the flesh. There was One Creator, One Father. There was one Mother. From this union came forth all their children--the human race.

So powerful were these teachings that the tribes of the Algonquin peoples formed the Iroquois Confederacy. It is from this Confederacy that much of the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence came. It is from the doctrine of life expressed by the Iroquois Confederacy by which the invading white Europeans forged the foundations of the American constitution, the basis of all Western Democracy.

The Great Prophet, the Peacemaker would spend many seasons with the Haudenosaunee people they who would later be known as the Iroquois Confederacy establishing the ways of the Great Peace. All things must change and the Peacemaker would not be amongst the people forever. He heard the call to move on along his journey but before he would go he would deliver his final message to the people. It was time for him to fulfill his agreement here that he had long ago made with Creator. The people were very saddened by the announcement of his departure from them.

He met with the People one last time upon the shores of the Bay of Quinte, near what is now Lake Ontario. All the tribes were asked to send representatives to participate in a great ceremony to show their integrity and their commitment to the Great Peace. At this ceremony it is said that the people who represented each tribe of the confederacy buried their weapons of war into a huge pit over which they planted an evergreen tree.

This tree represented the Tree of Life. Its branches reached to the heavens, to the Father. The tree and its roots represented the five tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy. The tree would grow, and send its roots deep into the earth to draw its nourishment and strength from the Mother as did the people. The tree of life was planted upon an island in the lake, which was mostly white granite. The White granite represented as did the white shells of the wampum belt a blanket of purity, the Mothers most pure mind. Some say that this tree is still alive today.

Wrapped within her robe of purity and wisdom, the Mother protects that original dream and wishes of those who participated in this great ceremony. Deganaweda spoke to them of Three Great Double Ideals, upon which they could build their foundation of self government:

1. Ne Skin. Purity of the mind and of the body are tied together through the experience of the flesh. It is called the Human Drama, which is our dance through this life. Harmony between groups of people, for all of our human existence is realized through mastering the experience of relationships between each other. Inner harmony and peace, and the true union with creator, the source of all life is realized through maintaining of the balance of the spirit, while it is alive in the flesh.
Our purpose along our path is the expression of divine love of the Creator and the divine Mother through our actions, and emotions given and received through our expression of that divine love. For all has been given to us, without question, that we might reflect that which we receive from Creator and the divine Mother which is unconditional love.

2. Ne Gaiihwijo. Righteousness in deeds, action, as well as our thought should be the premise for all conduct. Our action is the expression of our true thought. Our actions often times speak louder than our words, for it is through action the inner self, the true state of being is expressed.
When we maintain a state of most pure mind, we deal with life’s events with open heart. Thus we are acting as the expression of the Creator. In this manner we maintain a justice and equality in dealing with human rights, in integrity of spirit. The superior quality within all beings is the expression of Creator who always speaks through the human heart.
Remember always it in the heart of a thing that its spirit can be found, and within its spirit is the very essence of the Creator. Creators deeds being from the heart are always righteous and Sacred. Our actions thus applied are filled with the power of that which is Sacred. The state of Sacred, by its own decree is the state of most pure mind. Although often silent, and sometimes soft in its action this path is for us never without power. Consider this truth, is not the Creator realized within all things? What thing exists that is not by the decree of the Creator?

3. Ne Gashedenza. It is good to maintain within your society a force that councils a skilled power for the self-defense of the people. This force must always be tempered by employing the guidance of your spiritual understandings of the higher reason of the mind. All actions taken must be of righteous intent. All things that can be called righteous are the results of the balance between the physical and the spiritual, there are no exceptions.
Therefore, when differences arise as they will, the councils between your peoples must always be held with both the spiritual leaders and the military leaders present. The views of these councils should then be presented to the Sachems, who are your spiritual elders. They in turn must answer always to the Council of Grandmothers. The council of Grandmothers represents the social order of the people. In your societies all relationships are born from the foundation of the family fire--Mother, Father, and their children. Brother, sister, nephew, niece.
This structure is of the Mothers own design and purpose, and will reach out through your society like the roots of a great tree, seeking its strength and nourishment from the Divine Mother herself. Without the purposeful maintaining of the family fire your social order would quickly fall into disorder and decay. You are all extensions of this family fire which is your strength when the times of change and calamity overcome you. Standing together you have the strength to withstand the storms that will come. Standing separately, without order you fall easy prey to the forces darkness which are born of fear out of chaos, and as a people you would vanish like leaves before the wind.

We are all, in the end, brothers and sisters of one family, the children of one Mother and one Father. The balance of the male and female must be maintained within your relationships. It represents the balance of the Mother and the Father in the very process of creation, from which all of life is manifest.

In this way the Great Peace shall be established. In this way it shall be a living dream of the people that shall be handed down from Mother to Daughter, and as the bearers of life they shall pass it from Father to Son. And this peace which is born of the heart, and the people who live through this heart shall be forever. For they shall be in rhythm with the heart beat of the Divine Mother which never ceases.

He told them that they had done well living in accordance with the Great Peace. He told them they would know much abundance, and they would be happy for awhile. However, he also told them they would have great trials in the days ahead of them. He told them that a time was coming in which many of them could start to forget the principles of the Great Peace. A time was coming when the way of the serpent would rise from seeming sleep upon the land.

If the ways of the heart were forgotten and the people took to their old ways of warring amongst each other dark days would come as a result. He foretold that if the Serpents were awakened there would be a time of great trials and much suffering. In the darkness of this time they would come to mistrust themselves as well as their leaders and they would doubt even the very principles of the Great Peace.

Daganaweda told the people that he saw that during this time of the return of the serpent energy, that a White Serpent would come into their land. For a time, it would intermingle with the people. It would be accepted by the Indian people, and they would come to regard the Serpent as a friend and a brother. This Serpent would grow and be nurtured by the people and over time the Serpent would become powerful. As it grew although outwardly friendly towards the people the ultimately become obsessed with having more and more power.

This Serpent would have an insatiable appetite for power. It would seem that there would never be enough to satisfy this Serpent. It would reach out a giant claw and attempt to choke the life force from the People. If they did not succumb to the twisted will of the Serpent which would grow more and more delirious with its quest for knowledge and power. The Serpent would grow mad and think that it could own the very Earth itself.

In its desire for more and more power, it would eventually attempt to drive off and even kill the very people who had befriended it. It would threaten to completely destroy them, and any other People that dared defy its will. Many would become addicted to the seemingly easy way of life that the Serpent would offer them, and through gradual corruption of the spirit they would fall under the power of this Serpent. The Serpents power lied in its ability manipulate the people by creating fear, and self-doubt in the true spiritual path.

The Serpent was a master of illusion, and could even fool itself for a time into believing that it was liken the people itself. That it was no longer a Serpent. But while it talked of love, and a new way of life for the people it would be devouring the Earth itself. Even the beast of the forest and the great seas would flee in terror when it showed it face amongst them.

However, there would be People who would who would continues to live in the way of the Great Peace. they would see the Serpent for what it was. They would not give into fear and illusion. Although small in number they would somehow survive, the times that were coming. Many however would choose to leave rather then endure the years of struggle and hardship that would come to this land. It would be very strange times. A great struggle would develop between these few people who still held to the ways of the Great Peace and the Serpent.

There would be much contest and long suffering by the People, as the ways of the Serpent would have slowly corrupted many of them from the inside, separating them from the power of the great spirit that moved within them. The ways of the Serpent would separate them from each other, mother from child, child from grandparent. The family fire would be almost non existent in times that were coming. If the family fire was ever allowed to be broken , if brother took to warfare against his brother it would it would only be a matter of time before all was lost. A great despair would fall upon the People and the land. Since the People were the land it would be that in time event the land would start to die.

With the Great Peace broken the once proud People of the Long House would become weary from the endless torment of the soul that would never seem to end. Daganaweda told them if the peace was broken they would become as few in number as leaves on the trees in winter, that some tribes would have vanished from the face of the Earth entirely they would be as dust in the wind. As the seasons continued, many would forget their ways entirely, and the Great Peace would appear as a myth of a distant long ago past. He told them as a result they would endure spiritual pain that would seem to be endless. He saw the people falling upon the ground like turtles on their backs. They would be as helpless as children fighting this Serpent. Then one day a Great Red Serpent would appear There would develop a great battle between the two. So great that the whole Earth would appear to shake. this shaking would occur three times.