Artist: Katsitsionni Fox

In earlier times, The Onkwehonweh were visited by a group of people that were not native to this land. The non-native decided to make home of this new land with the Onkwehonweh. In time, the two became aware of their differences in their way of life and decided to forge an agreement.

The Onkwehonweh put his agreement in wampum: the non-native put his in writing. The Onkwehonweh said “We must thank the Creator for all his creations and greet one another by holding hands to share the covenant chains that binds our friendship so that we may way upon this earth in peace, trust, and friendship.”

The non-native symbol for this agreement was a covenant chain make of three silver links. The first link represented peace between them. The second link represents having a good mind, while the third link was a symbol of eternal friendship. It was said that should the chain become tarnished they would sit together once again to republish the links and renew their agreement. At this time, they would smoke the sacred tobacco in a pipe to signify peace, power, and friendship between them.