The epic of Deganawidah, the Peacemaker is an extraordinary story of a charismatic spiritual master whose vision and practical political genius brought order and peace in a time of chaos. It was through the efforts of the Peacemaker that the warring tribes of the Northeast joined together to form the Iroquois Confederacy over 500 years ago. The Peacemaker's work is preserved in the legend and history retold here and in the Confederacy's traditional constitution, which now influences many Native American governing systems throughout the United States. It also has had a major -- and rarely acknowledged -- impact in shaping the American Bill of Rights and the U. S. Constitution. The Iroquois Confederacy itself remains united under Deganawidah's unbroken spiritual lineage -- today represented by Chief Sidney I Hill, the Tadodaho, who is the temporal and spiritual leader of the Six Nations. Chief Hill has provided a message for this edition. The late Chief Leon Shenandoah, former Tadodaho, wrote the foreword.
In an epilogue, historian John Mohawk takes up the story where Paul Wallace left off, chronicling the Confederacy's struggles to preserve its lands and sovereign dignity since the eighteenth century. The teachings of the Peacemaker remain vital today, offering an inspired model for consensus-building among nations and peoples throughout the world.