The Peacemaker's Journey
The Great Law of Peace and the White Lions Initiative — a living convergence of Natural Law, LionHearted leadership, and Indigenous governance for a new Earth.
Bringing community around the hoop of life
Tree of Light is an Indigenous-led nonprofit reviving traditional practices, building civic engagement through Indigenous-based models, and connecting education, healing, and regenerative systems.
We carry the Great Law of Peace as an open, participatory constitution grounded in Natural Law — a living relationship among people, land, spirit, and the generations yet to come.
What does the Great Law of Peace have in common with the ideals of modern government — and what changes when governance is understood as a living relationship?
A living constitution united distinct nations
Known as Gayanashagowa, the Great Law was carried in oral memory and encoded in wampum belts — a law intended to remain alive through practice.
A single, living thread
Read top to bottom — eight clauses of Gayanashagowa, each with a teaching to listen for.
- 01Clause 2
The Roots of Peace
Roots spread from the Tree of the Great Peace to the north, east, south, and west. Their nature is Peace and Strength. Those outside the Five Nations who follow the Great Peace with clean minds and obedience to the Confederate Council may take shelter beneath the Tree of the Long Leaves.
Listen ForPeace can extend beyond the original union. Belonging is tied to conduct, responsibility, and a shared commitment to peace.
- 02Clause 5
Deliberation & Review
The Mohawk council is divided into three parties. The first and second discuss the matter; the third listens, identifies errors, and — when the case is properly decided — confirms it. The matter then passes to the Seneca Lords, and on to the Cayuga and Oneida Lords on the opposite side of the house.
Listen ForThe process builds reflection and error-checking into governance. Authority moves through stages; agreement is tested across distinct bodies.
- 03Clause 16
A Law That Can Grow
If future conditions call for an addition or change, the matter must be carefully considered. If a new beam is necessary or beneficial, it is voted upon; if adopted, it is called “Added to the Rafter.”
Listen ForContinuity does not mean rigidity. The law includes a disciplined path for adaptation.
- 04Clause 24
Leadership as Service
Chiefs shall be mentors of the people. Their skins must be “seven spans” thick — proof against anger, offense, and criticism. Their hearts should hold peace and goodwill; their minds should yearn for the welfare of the people. With endless patience, firmness is tempered by tenderness.
Listen ForLeadership requires emotional steadiness, patience, and care for the whole.
- 05Clause 92
Defending the Peace
A nation that seeks to destroy the Great Peace by neglecting or violating its laws, or resolves to dissolve the Confederacy, is deemed guilty of treason and an enemy of the Confederacy and the Great Peace.
Listen ForPeace is not passive: the shared constitutional order carries obligations and consequences.
- 06Clause 93
The Voice of the People
When a great emergency threatens the entire body of Five Nations, the Lords must submit the matter to the people. The people’s decision affects the Confederate Council and confirms the voice of the people.
Listen ForIn existential questions, legitimacy returns directly to the people.
- 07Clause 94
A Council Fire for Men
The men of every clan shall keep a Council Fire ever burning. When needed for the welfare of the clans, they may gather at the fire. This council holds the same rights as the council of women.
Listen ForCommunity deliberation remains ready, local, and reciprocal.
- 08Clause 95
A Council Fire for Women
The women of every clan shall keep a Council Fire ever burning. When the people’s interests require it, they hold council; their decision and recommendation are introduced before the Council of Lords for consideration.
Listen ForWomen’s collective judgment has a formal route into confederate governance.
Those who follow the Great Peace may take shelter beneath the Tree of the Long Leaves.
Principles guiding American democracy
Long before 1776, Native nations sustained a democratic federation guided by natural law, relationality, consensus, and cooperation.
Peace
Harmony as the foundation of collective life.
Equity
Justice and welfare extended to all.
Power
Authority drawn from unity and consent.
Health
Well-being and governance are inseparable.
Long View
Decisions honor the generations to come.
Gratitude
Connection renewed through practice.
Deliberation
Listening, patience, and consensus.
Interdependence
Humanity held within the web of life.
We were instructed to carry love for one another and to show great respect for all beings of the earth. In our ways, spiritual consciousness is the highest form of politics.
A visible imprint in early American thought
Colonists encountered an established federal union on Turtle Island — and contact turned abstract ideas into political blueprints.
Canassatego
At a treaty council, the Haudenosaunee leader advised the colonies: Our wise forefathers established union and amity between the Five Nations. We are a powerful Confederacy.
Cadwallader Colden
He described an independent republic whose authority rested in public opinion, wisdom, integrity, and esteem — not force or profit. They have outdone the Romans.
Benjamin Franklin
Franklin attended councils and studied how diverse nations united without coercion. His Albany Plan proposed a federation the plan of the Iroquois.
Recognition came late — and remains incomplete
1988. The U.S. Senate acknowledged that the union of the thirteen colonies was influenced, in part, by the political system of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Yet Haudenosaunee contributions remain absent from many textbooks and public narratives. The teaching persists through Indigenous educators, sovereignty arguments, ceremony, memory, and governance.
Governance is with and for the natural world
Past, present, and future are held together. Trees, rivers, winds, ancestors, and children yet to be born belong within the circle.
In our thinking, we consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. This is the foundation of our governance — taking responsibility for the future, not just the present.
The law of nature is the law of life. Our government is a circle — not a pyramid.
Clan mothers hold constitutional authority
Of 117 clauses in the Great Law, 23 address the rights and responsibilities of women — a dimension the U.S. Constitution never enshrined.
- →Descent follows the female line.
- →Women are progenitors of the Nation.
- →Women hold the land and the soil.
- →Clan mothers nominate leaders — and may remove those who lose the people's confidence.
- →Women's councils carry recommendations into the Council of Lords.
The Confederacy endures
The lands were seized. Treaties were broken. Systems were dismissed. And yet — the Confederacy still exists, the Great Law is still recited, clan mothers still name leaders, and the longhouse fire still burns.
A system that professed liberty drew from people it then sought to erase — and the teachings endured.
Read the Great Law in its entirety
This page holds eight of the Great Law’s teachings. The full Constitution of the Iroquois Nations — the Great Law of Peace, Gayanashagowa — is a living document of one hundred and seventeen wampum strings, recited and remembered across generations.
Beyond what is gathered here, the complete text holds the planting of the Tree of Peace and the keeping of the Council Fire; the rights, duties, and qualifications of Lords; the rituals of installation, mourning, and the Requickening Address; the laws of adoption, emigration, and the rights of foreign nations; the conduct of War Chiefs and the defense of the Peace; the removal of Lords and the law of treason; and the rights of women — the clan mothers who hold, nominate, and may withdraw the titles of leadership.
It is a record of how distinct nations agreed to live as one — a thread of peace carried in memory, wampum, and practice.
www.treeoflight.earth/peace
The White Lions Initiative
The Peacemaker's Journey does not end with the Great Law — it continues into a living framework of Natural Law, LionHearted leadership, and regenerative community design for our time.
White Lions Initiative
A convergence of communities walking the path of Natural Law, LionHearted leadership, and the Peacemaker's Journey — brought together by:
Guiding Intentions for a Unified Consciousness
The formation of a new group living organism — held within One Heart, committed to the Highest Good of All.
To Align to Divine Will and the Highest Good of All.
To Be Motivated and Committed to Co-Creating a new Earth paradigm of Higher Consciousness.
To focus on selfless Divine Service as your Highest Priority.
To move, individually and as a Group, in absolute Integrity, Impeccability, Self-Mastery and Alignment to Divine Principle and Universal Law.
To Serve in Heart-Centred Unity Consciousness and Embrace every person in Authentic Love, Understanding, Harmony and Compassion.
To detach yourself from the illusion of this duality, holding a place of Compassion, Grace, Neutrality and Knowingness that you are One with All Energy.
To take the Highest Responsibility for your own individual advancement into Self-Mastery through personal contemplation and resultant Transformation.
To Humbly Forgive yourself and others for any mis-judgements made.
To have Unwavering Courage to face our own fears while Honoring them, Loving them and Releasing them to their Higher Energy Forms.
To See only Divine Perfection in each person, experience and manifestation.
To Move Forward in unwavering Trust and Faith that you are totally supported in all aspects and levels of your life experience.
To Honor your Higher Mind as connected to the One Heart of Creation and Unified Consciousness Field of Infinite Potentialities.
As Ambassadors of Light, to Embody your Highest Human Potential and to help others do the same.
Foundational Law
The White Lions Initiative grounds in four pillars of Natural Law: 12 Divine Virtues, 13 Laws of LionHearted Leadership, the Worldwide Indigenous Peoples Governance Charter, and the Peacemaker's Journey into the Great Law of Peace.
The mark of transformation
"The mark of ignorance is the depth of your belief in self-injustice, sickness and tragedy within your life. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."
Before anything can change within our lives, first we must give permission for that change to take place. By inviting change we show our willingness to partake.
Step into your Purpose, Act with your Heart
In the ancient initiatory traditions of Africa, the radiant human heart is the energetic link to the human soul. Follow this process to its natural conclusion and you will become lion-like in your leadership: powerful, loving, brave, and true.
Worldwide Indigenous Peoples Governance Charter
The intention behind the worldwide Indigenous People's Charter is to enlighten non-indigenous governments about the Indigenous Way, which holds the key to humanity's restoration of right-relationship with our planet, and therefore our survival.
Recognizing "Great Spirit" as The Authority, over and above any man-made structure, it presents a global model of ecological principles illustrating the way forward for non-indigenous governments, and provides practical steps these governing structures can take to achieve them.
"This is the holy hour. Remember the True Authority."
— StarLion Ancestors, Assegaia Declaration, World Economic Forum 2020
12 Immutable Cosmic Laws
All creation is governed by law. There are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness. Mind is the builder. In giving one attains. Love IS life.
Law of Compensation
The Law of Cause and effect applied to blessings and abundance. The visible effects of our deeds are given to us in gifts, money, inheritances, friendships and blessings.
Law of Divine Oneness
Everything is connected to everything else. What we think, say, do and believe will have a corresponding effect on others and the universe around us.
Law of Vibration
Everything in the Cosmos moves, vibrates and travels in circular patterns. Each sound, thing, and even thought has its own vibrational frequency, unique unto itself.
Law of Action
Must be employed in order for us to manifest things on earth. We must engage in actions that support our thoughts, dreams, emotions and words.
Law of Correspondence
The principles of physics that explain the physical world — energy, Light, vibration, and motion — have their corresponding principles in the etheric universe. As above, so below.
Law of Cause and Effect
Nothing happens by chance or outside of Universal Law. Every Action (including thought) has a reaction or consequence. Karma is the name of this Law.
Law of Attraction
Demonstrates how we create the things, events and people that come into our lives. Our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions produce energies which attract like energies.
Law of Perpetual Transmutation
All persons have within them the power to change the conditions of their lives. Higher vibrations consume and transform lower ones.
Law of Relativity
Each person will receive a series of problems (Tests of Initiation) for the purpose of strengthening the light within. This law teaches us to compare our problems into proper perspective.
Law of Polarity
Everything is on a continuum and has an opposite. We can suppress and transform undesirable thoughts by concentrating on the opposite pole.
Law of Rhythm
Everything vibrates and moves to certain rhythms. These rhythms establish seasons, cycles, stages of development, and patterns. Each cycle reflects the regularity of God's Universe.
Law of Gender
The law of gender manifests in all things as masculine and feminine. It is this law that governs what we know as creation. Everything in nature is both male and female — both required for life.
Granting Ecosystems Legal Rights and Aligning Human Law with Natural Law
The practical arm of the White Lions Initiative — a blueprint for communities ready to live in right-relationship with the Earth.
Reinhabiting The Village
Grounding ecological community life in bioregional stewardship and cultural heritage.
Regional Resilience
Building interdependent networks that sustain community through any disruption.
CommUnity Land Trusts
Returning land to collective, sacred stewardship — outside the commercial value chain.
New Living Economy
Current-SEE, platform and ecoVillage corridors, co-governance tools, and mutual credit systems.
Law Enforcement → Peace Officers
Transitioning force-based enforcement into diplomatic relations and peacemaking.
Transportation
Regenerative, community-scale mobility networks aligned with bioregional living.
Whole Systems Design
Appropriate technology — graphene, water systems, and life-serving infrastructure.
Food and Health Systems
Regenerative agriculture, ancestral medicine, and community wellness as one living system.
Art, Media & Storytelling
Holistic event production, learning, education, and the arts as sacred community fabric.
The living architecture of a regenerative community
Three interlocking domains — Bioregion, Socio-Citizen Economics, and Bioregional ecoVillage Hub — form the scaffold of a new way of living together.
Bioregion
- →Cultural Heritage
- →Environmental Education
- →Wireless Safety
- →Regional Partnerships (Dept. of Bioregion)
Socio-Citizen Economics
- →Bioregional currentSEE(s)
- →Mutual Credit CurrentSEEs
- →Social & Crypto Currencies
- →Citizen Banking
- →Barters & Exchange
Bioregional ecoVillage Hub
- →Main Lodge
- →Earth Power Lodge
- →Nature Conservancy
- →Outdoor Festival / Conference
- →Center for the Arts
- →Radiance Retreat Center
- →Regenerative Agriculture
- →Residential Village
- →Outreach
- →Regenerative Community Design
Seven pillars of planetary right-relationship
Beyond governance and economics, the White Lions Initiative is anchored to living declarations and frameworks that put Earth, water, and all life at the center.
Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth
We, the peoples and nations of Earth, proclaim that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning. In an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth.
ASSEGaia Declaration — Protection of Sacred Sites
We call for the 'ecocentric' protection of all Sacred Natural Sites based on an Earth-centred approach that places the sacredness, integrity, and regeneration of these sites at the heart of all decisions affecting them. Sacred Natural Sites hold intrinsic value for the continuity of all life on Earth and cannot be monetized.
Declaration of Indigenous Rights
Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, while recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such. Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures.
Sacred Living Economics
A broadly integrated synthesis of theory, policy, and practice — Sacred Economics explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, resource-based economics, gift economies, and the restoration of the commons.
World Water Law
"The water of life, the first medicine of the world, is so precious to every living thing that grows, breathes and lives. The water is the female blood of Mother Earth that brings life... Water is life and as we say Mni Wiconi — Water of Life!" — LaDonna Brave Bull Allard
All creation is governed by law. In giving one attains. In giving one acquires. In giving, love becomes the fulfillment of desire. Love IS life.
Carry the teaching forward
The Great Law of Peace and the White Lions Initiative are strands of a larger hoop. Explore our education curriculum, the Four Directions mission, and the regenerative work it inspires.
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