Oren Lyon’s painting of the Tree of Peace, under which the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was formed many hundreds of years ago.

Give Thanks:

Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit others (everyone).

Show Respect:  
Respect means "To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well being of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy". Showing respect is a basic law  of life.
 
Treat every person from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.

 

Special respect should be given to Elders, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders. Never sit and stare at people keep your eyes down cast or otherwise busy.
 

No person should be made to feel "put down" by you; avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly poison. Even when you know someone makes a mistake do not repeatedly point this out to them and make them feel forgetful or lacking.  Many of us will forget in our life time and need not be judged in this way.
 

Do not touch things that belong to someone else (especially Sacred Objects), without permission; or an understanding between you. We here in our home never enter another person's room without permission as this is there Sacred Space. This is their space as long as they are in our home.
 
When visitors are here we do not enter there rooms or touch there personal effects.
 
Respect the privacy of everyone, never intrude on a person's  quiet moment or personal space. Again this reinforces the need to not violate the private time or need of another for silence. The out side world wonders at the silence of the Indigenous people.  They simply have no need to chatter all day and are perfectly content in there own minds.  Noise and constant talking can also be an intrusion of space.

 

Never walk between people that are conversing. Use your instincts and pass by without stopping and talking or listening.

Never interrupt people who are conversing.
 
Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are in the presence of  Elders, strangers or others to whom special respect is due.

Do not speak unless invited to do so at gatherings where Elders are present (except to ask what is expected of you, should you
be in doubt).
 
Never speak about others in a negative way, whether they are present or not.

Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world.
 
Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her. 
 
Even if you did not throw the papers and garbage on the Earth pick it up show an example to the children.

 

1.  Show deep respect for the beliefs and religion of others.  Do not  try to convert or persuade others to join in what you believe or condemn them for not seeing things as you do. Listen with courtesy to what others say, even if you feel that what  they are saying is worthless.  Listen with your heart. You just might learn a thing or two.

 

2.  Respect the wisdom of the people in council. Once you give an idea in a council meeting it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people. Respect demands that you listen intently to the ideas of others in council and that you do not insist that your idea prevail.  Indeed you should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the Spark of Truth.

 

3.  Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided. If the council has made an error, that error will become apparent to everyone in its own time.

 

4.  Be truthful at all times, and under all conditions.

 

5.  Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give of your  best food, your best blankets, the best part of your house, and your best service to your guests.

 

6.  The hurt of one is the hurt of all, the honor of one is the honor of all.

 

7.  Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as members of the human family.

 

8.  All the races and Nations in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator they must all be respected.

 

9.  To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation,  and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created.  Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.

 

10. Observe moderation and balance in all things.

 

11. Know those things that lead to your well-being,  and those things  that lead to your destruction.

 

12. Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart. Expect  guidance can come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in times of  quiet solitude, and in the words and deeds of wise Elders and friends.

 

Mitakuye Oyasin

 

L. Cota Nupah Makah - Waynonaha