In the 1600s, the Dutch had a base in what is now New York, and expanded their trade north along the Hudson River.

In 1650, the Dutch and Mohawks made a peace treaty known as the Two Row Wampum Treaty, which affirmed mutual respect for each other's sovereignty, and recognized each other's right to maintain their own customs.

The pictures and symbols on the Two Row Wampum recorded and represented the terms of the treaty between the Mohawk and the Dutch in 1650. The pictures indicated that the two peoples agree to relate to each other and coexist as two separate nations traveling on parallel paths.

The two rows symbolized the 'river of life.' The Mohawk and the European nations would travel in two vessels side by side, the Dutch ship and the Mohawk canoe, on parallel paths, which would never cross, or meet. Each nation's vessel contained the government, culture, laws, ways and knowledge of the respective nations, with neither imposing their ways on the other. The Two Row Wampum Treaty indicated that each side recognizes the other's right to self-determination.