Tree of Peace

by Tim MacSweeney

I know you’ve heard of “Bury the Hatchet,” but did you know the rest of the expression is: “And Plant the Tree of Peace?”

“In an ancient time, the Haudenosaunee were ruled by warfare and anarchy, and people lived in fear and hunger, preyed upon by powerful warriors and tyrants. One day, a white stone carried a man, born of a virgin, across Onondaga Lake to announce The Good News of Peace had come, and killing and violence would end.
"Peace," he said, "is the desire of the Holder of the Heavens. Peace comes when people adopt the Creator's Mind, which is Reason." For years The Peacemaker traveled teaching the Path of Peace—that "all people love one another and live together in peace."
One by one he convinced each person, village and nation to accept his teaching. Hiawatha, an Onondaga, was his spokesman. At last, all the people gathered Onondaga Lake for the first Grand Council of the United Nations. There, Peacemaker transmitted The Great Law of Peace—instructions to form a society and government based on liberty, dignity and harmony. The White Pine—with five needles clasped as one—became symbol of Five Nations united as one Confederacy.
Peacemaker uprooted a White Pine, exposing a deep cavern with a river at its bottom. He told warriors to cast weapons into this hole and the river carried the tools of war deep in the Earth.

Replanting the White Pine, The Peacemaker said, "To bury the hatchet signifies the end of war, killing and violence."

"The Tree of Peace," Peacemaker explained, "has four white roots extending to Earth's four corners. Anyone who desires peace can follow the roots to their source and find shelter under The Great Tree."

http://www.championtrees.org/yarrow/TreeofPeace.htm


More here, about Treaty Trees:

http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2008/04/tree-of-peace-and-treaty-trees.html