The U.S. Constitution and
the Great Law of Peace

U.S. Constitution and the Great Law of Peace: A Comparison of Two Founding Documents by Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp and Dr. Gregory Schaaf (CIAC Press, 2004).

    This book compares the “U.S. Constitution” with the Iroquois “Great Law of Peace,” highlighting the influence of Native American principles on American democracy. Looking beyond Greek models, Franklin and Jefferson adopted Iroquois symbolism. The Iroquois “Tree of Peace” became “Tree of Liberty.” The “Eagle-who-sees-far” became the “American Eagle.” The five arrows of the Iroquois five nations changed to thirteen arrows clutched in the American Eagle’s claws of the “Great Seal of the United States.” (See verso of U.S. $1 bill) The Iroquois tripartite system of government pre-dates the American development of a three-part system of government by several centuries.

     Furthermore, in 1988, the text of this book was submitted to the U.S. Senate Select Committee for Indian Affairs, as part of Dr. Schaaf’s testimony in support of “Senate Concurrent Resolution 76.” The bill passed 100-0, officially recognizing, for the first time in history, “Iroquois influence on the U.S. Constitution.”

      The resolution also reaffirmed the government-to-government relationship between Indian tribes and the US established in the resolution marked an important milestone in acknowledging the Iroquois Confederacy's impact on American democracy. (Congressional Record, September 16, 1987.)