The Onondaga, led by Adodarhoh, ]is considered to be the FireKeepers. Their territory is also the location of the Tree of Great
Peace. If the Mohawk Lords object to a bill in the Council, then it is impossible for the bill to become a law. Additionally, all Mohawk Lords must attend the Council in order for the meeting to run.
Since the Council meetings are brief, it is the role of the Onondaga Lords to immediately begin discussing important national and international issues at the start.
At the Council meetings, whichever Lord is considered to have the most pressing matter to discuss may speak first.
Once the Great Binding Law has been established, Lords are unable to make any changes to it.
It is the responsibility of women to demand that Lords attend Council meetings. If a Lord continues to miss a meeting, it is the responsibility of women to choose the next Lord to replace him.
Since Council meetings are private and confidential, Iroquois Lords may not record the information in any way.
The Lords must be mentors to the Iroquois which means that they must always act in the best interests of the people.
Lords are given permission to establish their own independent governments, separate from the Iroquois Confederacy.
A Pine Tree Chief is a leader who has proven to be incapable of governing and is cruel to his people.
The duty of the War Chief is to be the messenger of the people and fight if necessary.
A symbol of the Confederacy is the five arrows which represents the strength and unity of the Five Nations.
Even though the Great Binding Law established peace within the Five Nations of the Iroquois, war was not absent from their lives. Instead, the Iroquois may fight against foreign nations and seize their weapons upon their victory.
Women of the Five Nations were unable to participate in the government.
With the establishment of the Great Binding Law, Iroquois nations lost the ability to practice their traditions in their own way.
