Circle Wampum: Rotinonhshonni Teiotiokwaonhaston

The original of this wampum record was made at the time of the Founding of the League and has been handed down through a line of Wampum Keepers until the present time. This circle of white wampum represents the seating plan of the fifty chiefs of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee we liked to be called) Confederate Council. Each strand stands for a Confederate Chief’s name. They are bound together by intertwined strands representing the Unity of the Laws of Peace, Kaianerenko:wa. The circle of white wampum is very sacred.

Circle Wampum. The significance of the circle of wampum beads with wampum strings attached signifies the Fifty Chiefs, Rotiiane:shon, of the Five Nations and also symbolizes the Union of the Five Confederate Nations:

• The Mohawks, Kanienkeha:ka, have nine Chiefs.
• The Oneidas, Oneniota:a:ka, have nine Chiefs.
• The Onondagas, Onontakeha:ka, have fourteen Chiefs.
• The Cayuga, Kaiokwenha:ka, have ten Chiefs.
• The Seneca, Onontowa:ka, have eight Chiefs.

Under the Great Tree of Peace, Skaronheseko:wa stands the Fifty Chiefs with joined hands in a circle signifying unity.

It also provides that should anyone of the Confederate Chiefs leave the council, the Clan Mother will remove his antlers of the deer, the symbol of a ‘title holder’, together with his birthright.

Similarly, his title and the crown of deer-horns will fall from his head inside the circle and will remain within the Confederacy and it will be given back to the Clan Mother who will nominate another in her descent or lineage for the lordship in the family.

If any of the people in the confederacy wish to go out of the circle, all their rights will remain inside the circle of the Confederacy. The Fifty Chiefs of the Five Nations shall always stand firm with a tight grip of joined hands. So that if someday a tree falls upon the joined hands and arms, it will fall and would not separate or break the link of the Confederacy, not weaken the hold and that this Great Union, Teiotiokwaonhaston, will always be preserved.

Source:

Circle Wampum: Rotinonhshonni Teiotiokwaonhaston. (2015, February 26). Indian Time. https://www.indiantime.net/story/2015/02/26/culture/circle-wampum-rotinonhshonni-teiotiokwaonhaston/16968.html