The Tree of Peace

"These are our times and our responsibilities. Every human being has a sacred duty to protect the welfare of our Mother Earth, from which all life comes. In order to do this, we must recognize the enemy within us. We must begin with ourselves. We must live in harmony with the natural world and recognize that excessive exploitation can only lead to our own destruction. We cannot trade the welfare of our future generations from profit now. We must be abide by the Natural Law or be victim of its ultimate reality. We must stand together, the four sacred colors of man, as the one family we are in the interest of peace."

– Tadodaho, Leon Shenandoah
Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations

On April 8th, 1988, The Tree of Peace was planted atop the Bird Effigy Mound located along Observatory Dr. in the heart of the University of Wisconsin - Madison campus.

The small, pine sapling was laid into the earth under the spiritual guidance of Mohawk Elder Jake Swamp, traditional teacher of the Iroquois Longhouse, during an hour long prayer vigil. The prayer was a long set of instructions for the young tree to abide by as it slowly grew into maturity.

Everything in nature has its instructions. "Just as geese have been instructed by the Creator to fly a particular pattern every year, our job as humans is simply to give thanks to the natural world, and by doing so, protect it." The prayer originated from Mohawk Nation and Iroquois Nation spiritual and cultural values. His is an unbroken oral ancestral tradition going back thousands of years.

Long before the white man came to Turtle Island, a "great one" appeared among the Mohawk people. He was - and is - the Great Peacemaker, who inspired the warriors of the original five nations to bury their weapons of war under a sacred Tree of Peace.

This Tree became the symbol of the Iroquois Confederacy - the original inspiration for the democratic union of the U.S. Constitution.

Jake Swamp, a spiritual elder and leader of the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk, founded the Tree of Peace Society to promote awareness of Native cultures and spiritual values. Sanctioned by his Nation's elders, he has traveled all over the world planting trees as symbols of peace, and teaching about Mohawk and Iroquois spiritual and cultural values. His efforts have inspired many organizations - to date more than two hundred million trees have been planted, from the Catskills to China. The ultimate goal: plant one billion trees. The Peacemaker said that in every action we must "first consider the future of the children for seven generations to come."

The time for Peace is now. Please visit the Tree of Peace located next to Washburn Observtory and marked by a commemorative plaque installed in 1992.

The Tree now stands over fifteen feet in height and is a sacred site to members of Indigenous Nations. The site is holy ground and offers a sanctuary for any who need it.