[When a new lord joins the council, he must offer a pledge of four strings of shells. The speaker of the council will then welco
me the new lord. The lords on the other side of the council fire will receive the pledge. Then they will speak these words to the new lord.] According to the Iroquois Constitution, what must a candidate for lord offer as a sign of his commitment when he presents himself before the council?
The Iroquois constitution is a document that defined the way government worked for the Iroquois who is one of the most important confederacies of Native American tribes composed of five different tribes. As in other constitutions in this document, the Iroquois defined the way their territories and people should be governed including the election of a certain leader. In the excerpt presented, the requirements for being joining the council as a new lord are described, the first requirement is "he must offer a pledge of four strings of shells", in this context the word "pledge" means a solemn promise of doing something, which means the string of shells is a symbol of the new lord to be committed with the council and probably accomplish his duties as a lord. Thus, the object or sign of a candidate for lord he needs to offer when joining the Council is A. A string of shells as this is the object mention and link to the word "pledge" which means promise and none of the other objects are mentioned.
