The play follows the creation of the Iroquois Confederacy and the part that Huron tribe member Dekanawida played in the formation. According to Iroquois oral history, Dekanawida’s mother and grandmother feared he would bring destruction to their tribe and they attempted to kill him three times. He survived each and his mother and grandmother agreed that the Spirit wanted him to live, and so they would raise him. When he grew, he sought out a woman named Jikonhsaseh, who was known to counsel warriors, who set aside their weapons to speak with one another at her fire. Together, Dekanawida and Jikonhsaseh created a plan to bring peace to the five Iroquois speaking nations. Over time, with much work and many discussions, the Five Nations gathered at Onondaga Lake, where they planted a Tree of Peace and proclaimed the Great Binding Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, ending the life of war and cannibalism the tribes had been following and bringing them together.