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Article: Restoring the shine to a tarnished covenant: Presbyterians are called to live out the church's confession.(THE PATH TO HEALING: covenant)
- Article from:
- Presbyterian Record
- Article date:
- February 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Presbyterian Record. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Troquois peoples, the Haudenosaunee, members of the Six Nations Confederacy, entered into some of the earliest treaties in North America with European settlers. These treaties were recorded symbolically in wampum belts. The Guswenta wampum belt of 1692 records the treaty known as the Covenant Chain. A silver covenant chain was fashioned with three links representing peace, friendship and forever--the key concepts of the treaty.
Silver tarnishes easily, and so must be polished regularly to maintain its shine. Silver was selected for the covenant chain as a reminder that treaty relationships, like all relationships, require regular attention, lest they too become ...