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Long before the founding of the United States, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy united sovereign nations under a system of governance that balanced self-government with cooperation and collective decision-making.

Colonial leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, observed and learned from the Haudenosaunee. In 1744, an Onondaga leader named Canassatego encouraged the colonies to unite, demonstrating that while a single arrow can be broken easily, a bundle of arrows bound together is strong.

The eagle on the Great Seal of the United States still holds a bundle of 13 arrows, a lasting symbol of that idea: that people can come together in common purpose without losing their individual identities.