On September 5, Nic Schulz introduced Paul General. Paul is the General Manager of the Six Nations Eco-Centre. Information about the centre is available from its website. Paul is a Seneca and lives on the Six Nations Reserve.
He gave a slide presentation that was similar to this one.
He discussed the various treaties that have been signed over the years and give an excellent presentation of the origin of the Haudenosaunee flag which is based on the “Two Row Wampum”. When the Haudenosaunee first came into contact with the European nations, treaties of peace and friendship were made. Each was symbolized by the Gus-Wen-Tah or Two Row Wampum. There is a bed of white wampum which symbolizes the purity of the agreement. There are two rows of purple, and those two rows have the spirit of your ancestors and mine. There are three beads of wampum separating the tow rows and they symbolized peace, friendship and respect. These two rows will symbolize two paths or two vessels, travelling 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 try to steer the other’s vessel.