Polishing the covenant is critical now

You say that you are our Father and I am your son.

We say, We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers.

This wampum belt confirms our words. These two rows will symbolize two paths or two vessels, traveling down the same river together.

One, a birch bark canoe, will be for the Indian People, their laws, their customs and their ways.

The other, a ship, will be for the white people and their laws, their customs and their ways.

We shall each travel the river together, side by side, but in our boat. Neither of us will make compulsory laws or interfere in the internal affairs of the other. Neither of us will try to steer the other's vessel.

The agreement has been kept by the Iroquois to this date.

These words were spoken to reiterate the relationship between the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people and their white ''brothers'' upon agreeing to co-exist as separate but equal governments. As the Dutch became principals in the North American fur trade, they sought more control of Indian lands in the East. Historians point out that although the agreement, commonly known as the ''Silver Covenant Chain,'' is woven throughout Iroquois oral and written history and up through contemporary times, it is barely mentioned in the Dutch record.

This disconnect is reflective of the general attitude toward Indian treaties by our ''brothers.'' The Indians' intention was to reaffirm the freedom to conduct its affairs without intervention from another sovereign (and meant to stand ''as long as the sun shines upon this earth''). It is not clear that the agreement meant as much to the Dutch. Such agreements, covenants and treaties often were discarded by European and, later, American signatories when they proved contradictory to land expansion.

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