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Native American Contributions to the Constitution
The Great Peace Maker, Deganawodah, appeared as a 'Heavenly Messenger' in the eastern forests to the Iroquois Confederacy, a league of nations held together by the sacred teachings of this Holy Man. Benjamin Franklin first learned about these five nations in accounts from the proceedings of the Treaty of Lancaster (PA) in 1744. When the delegates from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia fell apart in quarrels among themselves, a great Indian Chief by the name of Canasatego ran out of patience. He scolded the colonial delegates for their lack of wisdom and ignorance of good procedures. Ben Franklin then caught an intimation of what made these peoples government work -- a religion-based constitution, which he held up in a series of pamphlets as the world's only available model for a confederation of thirteen contentious colonies. -- Source: God of War, Gods of Peace, Russell Bourne, p91-92, 2002