Essential question
How does the Great Law turn a political system into a physical image people can remember?
Marked passage
- Start anchor
- I am Dekanawidah and with the Five Nations' Confederate Lords I plant the Tree of Great Peace.
- End anchor
- Adodarhoh and his cousin Lords are entrusted with the Keeping of the Council Fire.
The Great Binding Law - Tree of Great Peace and council order
Source edition: public-domain English text published as The Iroquois Constitution; the underlying Great Law is an Indigenous oral and political tradition, not reduced here to a single modern author.
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen; same evidence task.
Solo
Read independently.
Supported
Narration + highlighting.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and say why.
Evidence
Use one tree image and the political function attached to it.
Mark
Underline parts of the tree image. Circle the political responsibility attached to each image. Box the point where metaphor becomes procedure.
Instructional move
Analyze how extended metaphor carries institutional meaning.
Notice
• What does the tree allow listeners to picture? • How do roots and shade express different political ideas? • Why pair symbolic imagery with concrete council rules?
Strong answer
The Great Law uses the Tree of Great Peace as a memory structure for government. Physical features become political relationships, making unity, reach, protection, and deliberation visible.
Think
Answer provisionally: How does the Great Law turn a political system into a physical image people can remember? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not treat the tree as a generic symbol of peace. Explain how specific parts organize governance.
Why this passage
The Tree of Great Peace is not decoration. Roots, branches, shade, and council fire give a political structure a memorable spatial form and connect authority to protection and relationship.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response. Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and say why.
Mark
Underline parts of the tree image. Circle the political responsibility attached to each image. Box the point where metaphor becomes procedure.
Notice
What does the tree allow listeners to picture? How do roots and shade express different political ideas? Why pair symbolic imagery with concrete council rules?
Think
Answer provisionally: How does the Great Law turn a political system into a physical image people can remember?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage.