America celebrates its 250^th anniversary this year with little recognition of the nation it drew inspiration from. So it goes with the delusions of American exceptionalism.

More than 500 years before the United States appeared on the North American continent, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in present day New York state brought individual tribes–states–together under the umbrella of a unifying representative–federal–government.

The U.S. Senate recognized the influence of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy on the construction of the Constitution in a resolution read on September 16, 1987, noting:

“the original framers of the Constitution, including most notably, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, are known to have greatly admired the concepts, principles and governmental practices of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Whereas the confederation of the original Thirteen Colonies into one republic was explicitly modeled upon the Iroquois Confederacy as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the Constitution itself.”

Unimaginable that today’s Senate hell bent on retrenching white nationalism and fealty to a similarly motivated dictator would acknowledge the continent’s indigenous people for showing America the way.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is recognized as the oldest continuous, participatory democracy in the world. Oral traditions and research date the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to around 1142, establishing Gayanesshagowa, the Great Law of Peace, as its governing principle.

That principle was, “animated by natural law—not the Enlightenment-era notion of individual rights, but an Indigenous understanding of law as a living relationship among people, land, and the spirit world, grounded in the duty to act with future generations in mind,” Jessica Jones, Managing Director at the Institute of Natural Law, wrote.

From east to west, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations, with the Tuscarora joining later to form what is now known as the Six Nations.

‘Glass In The Hodi:nohšö:nih (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy’

In recognition of its 75^th anniversary, the nation’s 250^th anniversary, and its location inside the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY presents “Glass in the Hodi:nohšö:nih (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy,” a permanent gallery installation debuted earlier this spring exploring the 400-Year history and legacy of glass beadwork in Seneca culture.

That history began with European settler colonials introducing glass trade beads from Italy to the Mohawks in the 1600s.

“Glass beads mainly replaced quillwork, using porcupine quills and leather; as we started trading, the porcupine quills and leather changed into beads and cloth,” Randee Spruce (Seneca, Heron Clan), an independent curator who produced the installation, told me via video interview.

Haudenosaunee laws and treaties, including Gayanashagowa, were communicated for centuries through wampum belts adorned with quahog shells.

“There's multiple examples of these new items replacing our cultural ways of life, like brass kettles replaced the clay pot,” Spruce explained.

Firearms replacing bow and arrow. Indigenous people across North America, across the world, have always been adaptable. Open to learning and mastering new technologies. Think of the Plains Indians and the horse. The Diné and silversmithing.

“It even went as far as replacing our language,” Spruce continued. “For example, the word for ‘bead’ in Seneca, that word comes from a fish's eye because it's shiny, that's a way that our language was actually being replaced by these things that were being traded and coming into our societies.”

Glass beads were easier to work with than porcupine quills and became more abundant so Native artisans evolved into master bead workers. Through opportunity and then necessity.

“The glass trade beads that start the first case of the installation, that's where the story starts, and then fast forward into the 1800s where we were using glass beads as basically survival art to sustain ourselves after we were placed on reservations, we were experiencing severe poverty for the first time,” Spruce said.

“Survival art” sold to tourists at places like Niagara Falls. A similar condition would develop later in the century in the Southwest around Native pottery and jewelry.

“This bead work wasn't a traditional art per se, but it has evolved into being a way of sustaining ourselves, addressing issues we were facing as people and for the first time we actually had to do something to make money; it's evolved into a form of self-expression for many Haudenosaunee artists, and that's important as a way of identifying ourselves to the rest of the world,” Spruce said. “To me, it's still a survival art in a lot of ways because a lot of people use this as a way of earning a living for sustaining our families.”

Introducing Local Art To An International Museum

“Glass in the Hodi:nohšö:nih (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy” is a collaboration between the Corning Museum of Glass and the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center of the Seneca Nation of Indians. Historical artistry is displayed through 15 glass bead objects on long-term loan from the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, a highlight being a rare 19th-century flat purse showcasing the distinct style of the Allegheny Seneca.

The Corning Museum of Glass has been the foremost authority on the art, history, and science of glass for 75 years, home to the world’s most important collection of glass and glassmaking spanning 3,500 years. With a big hole.

“Corning Museum of Glass is an international institution, and it talks about a lot of different cultures, but I realized when I first visited was there was really nothing on Native Americans or anything relevant to North America,” Spruce said. “I thought this was a historic moment for me to be able to bring not only a Native American perspective, but a regional, relevant story of something that actually happened on their soil. The glass beads, the trade beads that I chose for the installation, they're from Onondaga, around Syracuse, New York, Central New York, and the Finger Lakes region.”

The museum is centrally located in the Finger Lakes Wine Country.

The display concludes with a newly commissioned pair of moccasins by Samantha Jacobs (Seneca, Turtle Clan), the first artwork by a contemporary Native American beadwork artist to enter the Corning Museum of Glass’s permanent collection.

“I hope that visitors want to know more, take appreciation, and go to our cultural center and learn more about Haudenosaunee culture and art forms,” Spruce said.

Visiting the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

The Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, formerly known as the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, is located in Salamanca, NY, a two-hour drive west from Corning on Interstate 86. These are not easy locations to access, among the most rural remaining in the Northeast. Salamanca is 65 miles south of Buffalo.

The Rockwell Museum—no connection to Norman Rockwell—also in Corning, also honors Native American art this summer. It presents an exhibition highlighting a sustained commitment to collecting Contemporary Native Art since its founding.

One hundred and seventy-five miles east of Corning nearer to Albany, the Iroquois Museum shares another Haudenosaunee story aligned with America’s milestone anniversary. Through November 29, 2026, “Talkin' Bout a Revolution: A Haudenosaunee Response to the 250th” educates visitors about the decisive impact of the American Revolution on Indigenous sovereignty and cultural traditions.

Haudenosaunee nations and citizens found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Nothing would ever be the same again.

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